A Dream Or Reality
by Vexan
Summary: Max is thrown back in time to witness the hidden history of Kalos. Pokemon Ranchers replace Pokemon Trainers and the line between human and Pokemon is a thin one. Discover the hidden history with Max through the eyes of Duke, a Pokemon Rancher, as he witnesses the creation of royalty and the slavery of Pokemon!
1. Chapter 1

**-****-000-**

As the sun peaked over Melemele Island, the Trainer School's light flicked on as the teachers slowly arrived and got ready for the day. Most of the students' alarms went off around the same time in the morning and most students slowly got up, groaning at the thought of another day of school.

One student's alarm didn't go off, however. This particular student, a young adult with jet black hair, tossed and turned in his sleep. Sweat covered his brow as he clenched his eyes tight, it was clear that he was having a nightmare.

"No!" he screamed out as he woke up with a start. Breathing heavily, he looked around and found that he was in his room… At home.

"Oh great, must've been a dream…" the man sighed out as he grabbed his glasses from the side. He got out of bed and slowly made his way to his brother's room. He pushed the door open slightly and found both Kevin, Thomas' starter Pokemon who was a Sceptile, and Thomas asleep on his bed. The Alolan student shook his head and grabbed some clothes before heading towards the shower.

He looked into the bathroom mirror before he reached the bathtub and splashed some water in his face, muttering, "It was only a dream, Max. You're fine, everything is fine…" As Max got ready to shower, he swore he could've heard a faint chuckle in the back of his head.

**-000-**

Max let out a groan as he stood in front of his history classroom, mentally preparing himself for yet another boring class. He was one of the smartest students in his year and he especially excelled at history.

"Hey, Max!" A voice called out, catching his attention. He looked behind him and smiled, seeing Sam walking up to him. The Sinnoh native came to this school at the beginning of the year and Max quickly made friends with her, and even as she became one of the most popular students, she still enjoyed Max's company.

"Hey Max, finished your homework last night?" Max asked with a smirk.

"Nope!" Sam replied, popping the 'p'. "I was too busy exploring Melemele Meadow with Buneary and Bidoof."

"You have to finish your homework if you wish to become a Gym Leader," Max told her as he rolled his eyes. "Or else you won't get anywhere."

"Whatever, c'mon!" Sam replied as she grabbed his hand. Max blushed slightly at the contact but allowed himself to be pulled into the classroom.

After a few moments of talking with Sam, the teacher walked into the classroom and the classroom went silent. Max took out his notebook with a bored sigh and got ready for yet another lecture on the history he already knew.

"**_Think you know everything_**?" A voice asked. Max glanced behind him yet saw nobody unusual so he shrugged it off. However, the same laugh from earlier invaded the back of his mind and it shook him to the core.

"**_Let's have some… fun and travel back in time to see the truth_**!"

Before Max could say anything, his vision morphed until there was nothing but emptiness around him. A few moments later, a strange figure appeared in front of Max.

"**_Your dream from earlier was another reality you could have lived through. But I grew tired of it quickly. Now it's time for another game_**!"

"What are you talking about?" Max asked. "Who are you?"

"**_That does not matter! Now, onto the game! The rules are simple. You will meet with one of your ancestors and uncover the hidden history. Back during the times of Pokemon Ranchers! This is going to rock your world, I am excited_**!"

"I don't understand!" Max shouted to the strange figure.

"**_Great! Of course, I'll translate the language for you so you can understand what they're saying. You're going to be oh so horrified, I cannot wait_**!"

The strange figure vanished seconds later, leaving Max's mind reeling from the information. Dreaming! He must've fallen asleep during the lecture!

"C'mon, wake up, wake up!" Max shouted as he slapped himself. Nothing happened, however.

"You should not harm yourself like that," a calm voice told him. Max spun around and found himself face to face with a person he had never seen before.

"Who are you?" Max asked as he looked over the newcomer. The man was taller than he was and had short, black hair. He wore some strange gloves, a style that Max was not familiar with, and there was a sword attached to his hip.

"My name is Duke," the man replied as he bowed before Max. "I believe you are one of my descendants though the connection between us is faint due to the introduction of other bloodlines. That is beside the point, it seems as if a being higher than humans and Pokemon decided to choose us as it's playthings."

"The strange voice did say something about a game," Max replied as he held his chin in thought. "But why us? Why me? And why did he say something about me being horrified?"

"Battles are probably more gruesome and dangerous than what they are in your time," Duke observed as he held his arms behind his back.

"How do you know so much about this?" Max asked as he shook his head.

"Nuzlocke told me before he brought you here. Whever here is," Duke replied as he shurgged his shoulders. "But we can chat later. If we do not leave so, this being might get angry with us."

"Where are we going?" Max asked as Duke started to walked in one direction.

"We're going back through my memories, and you're going to see through my eyes," Duke replied. "That's what I have been told at least."

"Fine, whatever. I'm curious about this entire situation anyways," Max replied as he followed Duke, his mind buzzing with all of the answers Duke gave him. With a flash, Duke was gone and Max was no longer in an endless expense of emptiness.

However, what Max did see was something completely different than what he woke up to earlier that morning. He found himself in a field filled with Pokemon, Pokemon that were not native the Alolan Islands that he grew up with. Looking down, he saw the same strange gloves he saw earlier.

He was looking through the eyes of Duke.

**-000-**

**This project is part of an extended universe with Plegian Gengar's "The Rose That Was Always Red," maycontestdrew's "The Iron Knight," and Fuzzboy's "The Courtship of the Heavenly Plates." I recommend checking out the rest of these guys out, they are definitely better than I!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone and welcome to a new chapter of this Nuzlocke story! I've been enjoying it so far and I hope you all have too!**

**Maycontestdrew: No! I will not remove the truth! Thanks for the review, I hope this chapter clears up some more stuff. And gives you even more questions!**

**DeltaXtreme: You get to find out who was talking to Max, in case it wasn't that clear last chapter. No worries, it was an intro chapter so… Idk! I clarify some more things so I hope this clears up some confusion!**

**-000-**

Duke looked around the pond, making sure the group had gathered the needed supplies. He and Lamar, the Greninja next to him, had set off to gather food for a feast days ago and the Pokemon Rancher officials will be at the ranch today.

"You ready, Lamar?" Duke asked as he adjusted the strap of his makeshift bag.

"Of course, I've been ready for hours. You're just slow," Lamar replied with a snort.

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Duke said with a roll of his eyes, but a good nature smile took over his usual serious expression.

"_This is very strange..._" Duke heard in the back of his mind. Time seemed to slow and the surrounding area shifted to a black abyss. Standing in front of Duke was a confused Max, who was looking around with a frightened yet intrigued expression.

"_Hello Max, we meet again,_" Duke greeted as he bowed slightly.

"_Hello again… Duke, right?_" Max asked as he stared at Duke, who nodded in return. "_If you don't mind me asking, where exactly are we? And where were we before? And just… Why me?"_

"_Right now, we're in a dark void outside any reality,_" Duke replied as he looked around them. "_We were in my memories, I believe this was the day that I started my main journey. As to why we are here, I do not know. Nuzlocke is a strange entity that has great power and motives that are hard to understand._"

"_You brought up Nuzlocke before… _" Max asked himself as he held his chin in thought. After a moment, he shook his head before continuing, "_It seems like we're stuck here by this… Thing. What do we do?_"

"_Play along for now,_" Duke replied simply as he held his arms behind his back. "_Nuzlocke is determined for you to see what I went through so I suggest going through with it._"

"_I guess…_" Max sighed as he rubbed his temples in frustration.

With that, Max faded out of sight and the surrounding area was replaced with the pond. Duke blinked in surprise as Lamar waved a hand in front of him.

"Earth to Duke! We're on a time limit, let's get moving," Lamar told the human before walking off. Duke shrugged simply, checked his bag once again, and followed after the water-type Pokemon.

**-000-**

Duke and Lamar found themselves at their ranch before the sun started to set, perfect timing for the two of them. Duke's mother grabbed the food and other supplies from Duke before taking it inside, getting to work immediately with her partner Pokemon, Juliet the Illumise. The two made for an amazing team when it came to cooking. 

Duke's father, David, and Duke's younger brother, Luis, were taking care of the young Pokemon that should be ready to start training soon. Lamar's son, Genji, hopped over to him to hug him. The young Froakie was older than the other younger Pokemon and he was getting ready to start training, so he was dirty from his version of training. Lamar took Genji with him as Duke approached his father. 

"Welcome home, Duke," David greeted his oldest son with a nod of his head, which Duke returned. "You're lucky you made it in time. A few minutes later and your mother would have started cooking too late for our guests."

"Thank you, sir," Duke replied as he bowed before his father. His father's compliments were hard to dissect but after years of living with him, Duke knew what was a comment and what was an insult.

After an hour of waiting, four figures were seen coming from the forest, all four wearing the same red clothing. Duke knew them to be the representatives of the Pokemon Rancher Guild and they were the ones who gave the Pokemon Ranchers their clearance to become an official Pokemon Rancher. It was a process that Duke still could not properly explain.

Duke's mother, Catherine, brought out the still-hot food and the group ate together and the Pokemon Rancher Guild members explained the rules to Luis. The rules were simple enough. "Do not use more than six Pokemon. Do not attack innocent people or already injured Pokemon. And do not use more Pokemon than your opponent unless you have consent." 

They also explained the Territory Lords. A Pokemon Rancher is allowed to travel and gather eight badges from official Territory Lords. If you collect all eight badges, you can fight in the Pokemon Rancher League hosted by the Elite Four. If you come in first, you are allowed a wish or access to secret knowledge. There is no limit to what you can ask for, well, there are limits but they have not been explored yet.

"Thank you for the lovely dinner," the leader of the group, Joan, told Catherine as she stood up.

"It was my pleasure," Catherine replied as she and Juliet helped clean up.

"Luis, now that we have explained the rules of being a Pokemon Rancher, it is time to give you the mark of a Pokemon Rancher," Joan told Duke's younger brother. "You will not remember the process but you will officially become a Pokemon Rancher. We will be able to connect with you and anyone from our organization can see the mark. And finally, you will have the ability to send Pokemon to your home location, which will be here. Are you ready?"

"I was born ready," Luis replied with a serious nod.

"Then let us begin. Follow us," Joan told him as she led him away. The other members of the group followed, leaving the family behind. Catherine and Juliet moved from cleaning the table to get the food ready for the other Pokemon, so Duke and David helped the two out.

**-000-**

In the morning, Duke was sent to wake up and bring Luis back to the main house. Joan informed the family that the process was a success and that Luis was asleep in one of the buildings on their land. Luis will be weak for the next few days as his body gets used to the mark but he should be fine.

Luis was ordered to take it lightly and Catherine offered to go grab some herbs to help the side effects. David and Duke decided to join with Lamar.

"Today is such a wonderful day," Catherine said dreamily as the family left their land, her dress flowing slightly in the wind. "No could in the sky, not too hot and not too cold. Just… perfect."

"And quiet," Duke added, looking around the area. "Unusually quiet…"

"Duke is right, something seems wrong," David said as he trudged ahead. "Keep an eye out, I don't like this."

As the family continued along the path, labeled Route 1 by the Pokemon Rancher Guild, the wind started to pick up. Lamar decided to go scout ahead just in case there was an enemy ahead, leaving the three humans alone.

"What do you think is wrong, father?" Duke asked a few moments after Lamar left.

"I don't know but this is very unnatural. Vaniville Town is up ahead and it's usually full of those pesky Pidgey and Fletchling that never seem to shut up," David replied before they spotted Lamar ahead.

"You guys may want to see this," Lamar told them once he reached the group. "I… Don't know what I saw but it's dangerous."

The three humans shared a look before running after Lamar as he led the way. They came upon a fork in the path and took a left instead of a right, which would have taken them to Vaniville Town. A few moments later and they something strange up ahead. The usually green trees were a dark purple and brown wood took a more greyish tint. The grass surrounding the trees were dead and the flowers were wilting. The small pond to the side of the trees was full of black water and several bodies of dead Pokemon covered the forest floor. 

"Those… Those poor Pokemon!" Catherine exclaimed as she ran forward. David cursed and followed after her with Duke and Lamar right behind him. Catherine reached the edge of the corrupted area and stopped. Everything about the area screamed at her to run. She looked down and noticed that the corruption was slowly spreading so she took a few steps back.

"What even is this?" David asked as he reached her. "I've never seen anything like this before!"

"I don't know but it scares me," Catherine admitted with a whimper. The group heard a bird call and suddenly, a Fletchling appeared in front of them. It flew up and dove towards them, cutting part of David's arm as it flew past him. Blood appeared for a few seconds before a strange purple ooze covered the wound.

"What the…" Duke muttered before electricity surrounded him. Before the Fletchling dove towards them again, Duke pointed a finger at the bird before firing the electricity. The blast hit the bird and sent it flying into the distance, back into the corrupted part of the woods.

"David!" Catherine exclaimed as she took a look at her husband's arm. A green aura surrounded Duke's mother before moving to her palms that she held right over the wound. The purple ooze fizzled away and the wound healed shut, leaving no trace that David was every cut.

"This is very concerning," David mumbled as Catherine pulled her arms away. "Either Pokemon become corrupted and turn feral or they die, it seems. We need to cleanse this… But I don't know how to do it!"

Duke looked around and remembered the conversation last night. He sighed and shook his head. "Father, I have a proposition," Duke told him. "Allow me to defeat the Territory Lords. If I win first, I can learn how to cleanse this strange corruption. Or I can find someone on the way that can help!"

"Duke…" David started before holding a hand to his head. A few seconds later, he continued, despite the worried looks from the ones surrounding him, "That may be necessary. This is something beyond any of us and I can admit, you are a powerful battler. You may go."

"Thank you, father," Duke replied as he bowed before him. "I will leave as soon as we return home."

"Wait, just you? What about me?" Lamar asked in shock.

"I need you to stay home in case you're needed," Duke replied as he patted the top of Lamar's head. "We grew up together, you're as strong as I am. I need you to stay so I know that you are all safe. Please, can you do this for me?"

"I… I will, Duke," Lamar said with a bit of hesitation. "But can you please take my son with you? He's been restless ever since his mother died and he's old enough… And I know that you will take care of him."

"I will, Lamar, I will," Duke told his friend. "The next time you see him, he'll be as strong as you."

"But I'll be stronger than you!" Lamar replied with a laugh, hugging Duke. Duke hugged his friend back with a soft smile.

"We should hurry home before more birds attack," David told the two hugging friends. "And Luis may need us." The two nodded their heads and the family quickly left the corrupted area behind them.

They reached their home and Duke immediately started packing for the trip. Lamar told his son about his journey and the Froakie started hugging his father in excitement.

After a tearful goodbye, Duke and Genji were off on their journey, determined to find a cure for the corrupted area so close to their home. Max watched on with interest before his vision dimmed until eventually, all he saw was black. 

**-000-**

**This project is part of an extended universe with Plegian Gengar's "The Rose That Was Always Red," maycontestdrew's "The Iron Knight," and Fuzzboy's "The Courtship of the Heavenly Plates." I recommend checking out the rest of these guys out, they are definitely better than I!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Welcome back to another chapter of A Dream or a Reality!**

**May: Look! I got rid of it! Happy now? Yeah, I was thinking of a good reason to get Duke to leave his home so… Maybe something that threatened his home would be good enough. So, thus, the Corruption.**

**Delta: Duke's name is awesome, I agree. And I guess I will miss Lamar too? But he will show up later in the story! Obviously.**

**-000-**

Max groggily woke up and looked around his distorted surroundings. It took him a few seconds to realize that he didn't have his glasses on, so he grabbed them and put them on. He was… Back in his room.

With a groan, Max got up from his bed and walked to the window, opening the curtains to reveal a rainy day in front of him. "Must have been another weird dream," Max sighed to himself as he stared out the window.

"_My apologies but it was not a dream_," a voice said. Max looked around in shock but saw nobody there.

"Duke?" Max asked out loud as he looked around, shocked.

"_Ah, so it seems like I finally reached you. It took a lot of time and a lot of work but I did it,_" Duke replied in the back of Max's head.

"What are you talking about?" Max asked once again, looking towards his door to make sure no one else was awake. He didn't want his mother or Thomas to catch him talking to himself.

"_The eye of Nuzlocke is not upon us so I took the opportunity to hone my skills and altered the space and reality here to access you and your world,_" Duke explained.

"Uh… What?" Max did understand what Duke said but it did not make sense.

"_You'll figure it out as time goes by,_" Duke replied simply. "_Anyways, when you're ready to return to the subspace with me, we will continue to go through the memories of my journey._"

"Why are you interested in this?" Max asked the voice of Duke. "You should know what happened in your memories. And what was with the lightning and green light?" 

"_I cannot remember the end of my journey,_" Duke replied. "_I remember what happened to make me this way but not much after that. As for the electricity and the healing, humans back in my time were very similar to Pokemon. So a lot of us had abilities similar to Pokemon, but it's better to talk about that later._"

"What do you mean made you this way?" Max asked. "Duke, you're a confusing yet interesting person."

"_Spoilers,_" Duke said.

"Right, right. Well, I suppose we can continue after I complete the school day today," Max told Duke as he closed the curtains.

"_Take your time, I will be waiting._"

**-000-**

After Max got home from school and went up to his room, he told Duke that he was ready. With a shift of his vision, max was back in the subspace of reality that was created by the entity Max knows as "Nuzlocke."

"I looked into the, well, settings of this place and found some interesting things," Duke told Max before they jumped into his memories. "Everything is being translated so you can understand. Towns, cities, and route names will have more recent names. A lot of the old French is being translated into modern English as well. Nuzlocke is a fascinating creature…" 

"That does explain why I heard Vaniville Town…" Max said in thought. "Duke, how are you able to manipulate this space?"

"Spoilers," Duke replied simply with a shrug of his shoulders. "I don't want to ruin the story."

"Fine, fine," Max said with a sigh as he waved Duke off. "So we left off where you and Genji partnered up to go out on an adventure."

"I remember," Duke replied before waving his hand. Max's vision flashed before he, once again, was standing in the shoes of Duke.

**-000-**

Duke continued walking through Route 2 and an area known to Max as Aquacorde Town. However, instead of a small town that Max learned about, there was nothing but trees, grass, and a stream.

"_This is strange…_" Max's voice said as Duke and Genji approached the stream.

"Strange to you, but not to me," Duke replied. The Froakie next to him didn't seem to hear the Rancher and went splashing into the stream.

"It feels so good to no longer be cooped up in the same area!" Genji exclaimed as he threw some water into the air.

"I agree, it has been a while since I left our home," Duke said as he easily jumped over the narrow stream. The small body of water was vastly different compared to the present so Max guessed that it grew over the years. 

"Are you thinking of befriending other Pokemon, Duke?" The young water-type asked. "I really need a rival! A rival that will push me past my limits and help me achieve my true powers! I obviously will be the protagonist and will win in the end, but that's impossible without someone else."

"We will see, Genji," Duke replied as he continued walking. Genji had to jump out of the water and catch up before the human got too far. "It will depend on the Pokemon we meet."

"That's boring," the Froakie said with a huff. He followed Duke in silence, looking around the area. After a moment, Genji started humming to himself to fill the silence. After a few more minutes passed by, Genji let out a groan, "this is so boring! I thought that traveling would have been more interesting!"

"You remind me of your father when he was younger," Duke said with a chuckle. "Fine, let's do some training. A simple one, I believe."

"Training? Yes! Let's do it!" Genji replied with enthusiasm. Duke chuckled and held out his hand, a ball of electricity floating in the middle of his balm.

"Grab the ball," Duke said simply. Genji stared at Duke for a few seconds before shrugging his shoulders and leaping towards the electric ball. Without much effort, Duke willed the ball to whiz out of the way of Genji's leap. Genji continued forward and slammed face-first into a nearby tree. Duke shook his head and continued walking forward. 

"I meant to do that," Genjo groaned out before shaking his head. "But this time, you're mine!"

The back and forth continued as they continued to walk through the area. Genji continued to try to get the ball but the ball continued to move at the last second. As Duke expected, Genji tried new ways to get the ball, like distraction tactics but Duke wasn't easily distracted.

**-000-**

Genji continued to try to get the ball as the pair made their way to Santalune Forest. The number of trees continued to grow and the amount of sunlight getting through the leaves continued to decrease. Genji used the areas of taller grass to try to catch the ball but was still unable to. 

One particular time, Genji flew past Duke's head and slammed into another tree. After Genjo wearily stood back up, the leaves in the tree started to rustle. Seconds later, a Fletchling flew out of the tree and started to peck at Genji. 

"Ow! Ow! Stop! Stop! I'm sorry!" Genji shouted out as he flailed his arms.

"This is the last place where I can feel safe!" The Fletchling screamed out as she continued to peck at Genji. "My home was already taken from me, I will not allow this one to be taken from me again! I refuse!"

"Calm down, calm down," Duke told the bird as he walked towards the two. "What do you mean you lost your home?"

The bird stopped pecking at Genji and flew to rest on Duke's shoulder, still glaring at the water-type. She told Duke, "The weird purple thing to the south. It either killed everyone or made them go crazy. I was forced to flee as I watched my mother tear apart my father…"

"I know what you are talking about," Duke replied with a seldom nod. "My name is Duke and the Froakie is Genji. We're going on a journey to find a cure to the Corruption. Would you like to join us?"

"Hmmm…" The Fletchling hummed to herself in thought. She looked around the forest and sighed. "Who am I kidding? This isn't my home… I'll take you up on that offer. My name is Teresa."

"Teresa? That's a nice name," Duke said as he held a hand towards the bird. "Give me a moment and I'll link you to my Rancher ability."

"Rancher ability?" Teresa repeated in confusion as a strange light enveloped her and Duke's hand. It only took a few seconds for the light to fade away and Teresa did not feel any different.

"This allows me to bond with you and send you back to my house if needed," Duke explained. "It's not permanent. If you ever want to leave, I will unbind you. But for now, welcome to the team."

"Yeah, welcome," Genji grumbled as he rubbed his head.

"Now… Would you like to play catch the ball?" Duke asked with a slight smirked as he held up the electric ball once again. Genji grinned and jumped towards the ball… Just to have it move at the last second. Once again, Genji slammed into a tree and slid down as Teresa and Duke continued on their way through Santalune Forest.

**-000-**

**This project is part of an extended universe with Plegian Gengar's "The Rose That Was Always Red," maycontestdrew's "The Iron Knight," and Fuzzboy's "The Courtship of the Heavenly Plates." I recommend checking out the rest of these guys out, they are amazing writers!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Welcome to another short chapter! I do plan on keeping them short so I can keep up my motivation, big chapters tend to make me lose motivation unless something huge is going on! Anyways, I hope you all enjoy it!  
**

**Delta: I thought Fletchling would be a better addition for Duke instead of a Bunnelby, but I did consider it. And yeah, the Rancher Ability is all about the bond between a Pokemon and a human. A lot nicer than a Pokeball.**

**Plegian Gengar: Thanks for catching up! I do enjoy Duke knowing a lot more than he lets on, it's pretty amusing especially when I have a character like Max. Though, I do want to say that he is not doing any fourth wall breaks. Max is basically watching a movie and Duke knows this, so he makes a joke about being spoilers. And why Max? That will be explored in the future!  
**

**May: You forced me to change it! Sad face. I agree, the "spoilers" line still makes me smile. I may need to do some type of Pokemon Camp scenes now! Thanks for the idea!  
**

**-000-**

Genji continued to try his best to catch the electric ball being controlled by Duke while Teresa watched the frog from Duke's shoulder. The wild Pokemon in the area acknowledge the human and his Pokemon partners, some even stopping to chat a little with Duke and Teresa as Genji continued to chase the ball.

After getting halfway through the forest, the small group heard a scream from nearby, followed by some shouting. Duke looked at Teresa and both shrugged their shoulders before casually walking towards the source of the shouting. A few moments later, Duke found himself in front of a group of fellow Pokemon Ranchers (Pokemon Ranchers have a light around them visible only to other Pokemon Ranchers), one of which was hanging upside down with a Chespin directly under him.

The hanging human had short, blond hair and brown eyes, very uncommon around this area. He was flailing about with a sword, trying to swipe one of the ranchers surrounding him. He also had a shield, that was laying on the ground next to the Chespin, as well as some leather armor. There was a rope tied around his ankle and there were slash marks, indicating that he did try to slash at the rope, but he wasn't able to properly break the rope. The Chespin under him was shaking his head in embarrassment.

"See how easy it was to defeat you?" A woman asked with a giggle. "You should just quit trying to be a Pokemon Rancher. You don't have any powers, you're useless!"

"Screw you!" The hanging human yelled back, still trying to hit them. This caused the group of Pokemon Ranchers to start laughing again. Duke let out a sigh and decided to step in.

"Alright, alright, that's enough," Duke told the group, his hands up. "Leave him be and continue with your day."

The same woman from before let out a scoff before addressing the group, "C'mon, let's go. Killjoy here just ruined the fun."

After a few moments, the group of ranchers and their Pokemon left the area. Duke gestured towards the rope and Teresa flew towards it, snapping the rope easily. The blond human landed with a grunt before jumping back up, pointing his sword towards Duke.

"Who are you?" The man asked, suspicious of Duke.

"Name's Duke, and you?" Duke asked with a bow. The man in front of him lowered his sword, caught off guard by Duke's gesture, as Teresa landed back on Duke's shoulder.

"My name is Charles," the man, Charles, replied after a few moments, putting away his sword as he did so. "Thank you for the help, Duke, but I would have been able to get myself down."

"I bet," Duke said as he folded his arms behind his back. He couldn't explain why he was interested in the man but there was something strange about him. He had the mark of a Pokemon Rancher but it was… Different than usual. "Can you tell me why they were harassing you?"

"Maybe because they were afraid of me, so they had to team up on me!" Charles exclaimed with a grin.

"They did it because you don't have any powers you twat!" The Chespin exclaimed as he threw Charles' shield at his head. The shield bounced off his head, making Charles growl and point his finger at the grass-type. "Anyways, my name is Aron and I'm Charles' partner."

"It's nice to meet you two," Duke said with a smile. "I do have a question though. Why is someone without powers a Pokemon Rancher? You are at a huge disadvantage."

"Exactly!" Charles exclaimed as he threw up his arms. "I want to prove to people that you don't need powers to be a good Pokemon Rancher! I will defeat all of the Territory Lords and win the Pokemon Rancher League and prove to everyone that I can do it!"

"Oh, so you're taking on the challenge as well?" Duke repeated. "Interesting… What do you say about traveling together?"

"Huh? Why me?" Charles asked, confused once again.

"There's something about you that intrigues me," Duke replied. "And I do want to see you succeed, to be honest. People deserve a chance to do anything they want. No matter who they are."

"Wow… You're the first person that wants to see me succeed…" Charles muttered as he looked down. After a moment, he looked back up towards Duke and smiled, "I accept, Duke!"

"Great! Now… let's see your skills."

"What?" Charles asked as Duke moved into a fighting stance.

"I want to see what your skills are. I want to help you train so I need to determine how far you are."

"That… Makes sense," Charles replied as he watched a Froakie jump over Duke's shoulder, chasing an electric ball. The Froakie continued to chase the ball towards Aron, who was watching in interest. The ball suddenly pulled up into the air, causing Genji to smash into Aron, head first.

"What the hell are you doing?" Aron yelled out as he tried to push the water-type off of him.

"Huh, what?" Genji asked, disoriented. He then looked down and finally noticed the Chespin under him. Genji's eyes lit up as he exclaimed, "My destined rival! Finally!"

"Ow, my ears you dick!"

**-000-**

Duke and Charles faced each other with their Pokemon by their sides. Teresa decided to watch from a branch nearby so Duke didn't have the numbers advantage. Charles had his sword and shield at the ready while Duke just stood there.

"You can have the first move," Duke told Charles.

Charles nodded and got into his fighting stance. Seconds later, he burst into action, running at Duke with his shield raised. Aron fired a barrage of Pin Missiles that flew over Charles, ready to strike Genji and Duke.

"Go ahead Genji," Duke told the water-type. The Froakie fired a barrage of bubbles that countered all of the Pin Missile. Charles reached Duke and slashed at him twice, both of which Duke dodged with little effort.

Genji fired a few Bubble attacks at Charles, which he blocked with his shield, and Aron responded by grabbing the frog with a Vine Whip. This left the two humans alone and Charles continued to slash at Duke. Duke easily dodged each of the slashes until Charles left himself open. With an electrified fist, Duke punched Charles' shield. The electricity crawled up Charles' shield arm and caused him to drop the metal shield.

"Damn it!" Charles exclaimed as he swapped his stance to accommodate the lack of the shield. His sword had a long enough hilt where he can fit both hands, so the one-handed weapon became a two-handed weapon. With a yell, Charles continued to engage Duke in close quarters combat.

Meanwhile, Genji and Aron were having a ranged fight. Genji used a combination of Water Pulse and Bubble to counter Aron's Pin Missile and Vine Whip attacks. While Genji was fast enough to dodge and counter all of Aron's attacks, he was not able to deal enough damage. However, a yell from Charles made Aron turn and loot for a second before balling up into a ball, using Rollout to reach the two humans.

Duke had attached a small electric charge to the sword and used magnetization to rip the sword out of Charles' hands. He easily threw the sword into the air and used his electric charged fists to punch at Charles. Charles was having a hard time dodging and every punch left another spot on his body numb. However, a pair of vines appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the still falling sword and brought it down on Duke. Surprised, Duke jumped backward but was not able to remain unscathed. A small cut appeared on his arm from the attack, which made Duke grin.

"Well done!" Duke called out as Aron appeared in front of Charles. "A great use of using another person's power to help them out! Let's see some more!"

With that, Duke engaged the pair again with Genji attacking the other side. Aron and Charles were able to counter most of the attacks, showing amazing teamwork that even Duke didn't have with Lamar. Despite showing a clear disadvantage and Duke only using a small portion of his power, it was clear to him that Charles was, indeed, a special person.

As the fight continued, Duke reached into the back of his mind to reach Max, "_Pay close attention to Charles. Very close attention…_"

**-000-**

**This project is part of an extended universe with Plegian Gengar's "The Rose That Was Always Red," maycontestdrew's "The Iron Knight," and Fuzzboy's "The Courtship of the Heavenly Plates." I recommend checking out the rest of these guys out, they are amazing writers!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Merry Christmas to those that celebrate it! I hope you all had a nice holiday, no matter what holiday you celebrate! Here's my gift to you, readers… A plot-heavy chapter! Woo! Oh, and some action, hopefully.  
**

**Plegain Gengar: Thanks! That chapter was really fun to write but I had a much better time writing this one. And yeah, it looks like we have a similar character theme in all of our stories. **

**Delta: The line might be concerning. It might not. From the wise words of Duke… "Spoilers."**

**May: I love sword and shield-like stories! And they are my favorite to write, especially with magic involved. I know you'll like this chapter, as it has some more swords and shields.  
**

**-000-**

Back within the subspace Nuzlocke created (and who seemingly abandoned it), Max and Duke were sitting at a table, playing chess. It was very hard to tell who was winning but Max had more pieces on the board.

"Duke, can I ask a few more questions?" Max asked as he moved a piece on the board. 

"I suppose…" Duke said after a moment. "But I can't give too much away. That ruins the fun."

"Fine," Max replied with a deadpan expression. "Why did you tell me to keep my eye on Charles?"

"Too early to tell you, ask again later," Duke replied as he knocked out one of Max's pawns.

"Alright… Then who are you to me?" Max asked. "Are you my grandfather?" 

"Nope!" Duke answered with a chuckle. "My brother, Luis, is your great grandfather times… Whatever. I guess that makes me your great whatever uncle."

"Interesting…" Max said in thought as he knocked out Duke's queen. "Did you have any children then?"

"Not that I know of," Duke replied as he looked over the chessboard. "I never had intimacy with a female." 

"That's… Something I did not expect, to be honest," Max said as he looked over Duke.

"I'm a man full of surprises. Now, you have one last question for now before your question ability goes on cooldown," Duke told Max.

"Uh… What?" Max asked with a confused look. "Nevermind that. Have you found out why me? I'm no one special."

"I have not been able to figure that out yet," Duke said. "Nuzlocke is a strange entity and I have yet to be able to figure out how he works. I don't even know if he is a he."

"Great…" Max replied as he pinched the bae of his nose in annoyance.

"That's checkmate, shall we get back to it then?" Duke asked as he stood up. Max looked at the board in surprise and indeed found that his king was checked.

"How the hell…?" Max mumbled as he stood up as well. Second late, the table disappeared and the scene shifted back to Santalune Forest.

**-000-**

"Damn Duke, you hurt," Charles complained as he stretched his sore limbs. It was a few hours after their training and Charles just woke up from being knocked out.

"Years of training," Duke said simply as he gathered a few Oran Berries. Within moments, he was able to mix the berries with some water, creating a healing tonic. "It's hard to hold back sometimes but it is good for you. But drink this, it'll help the bruises."

Thanks," Charles said as he grabbed the water. Instantly, the soreness started to fade away and he said in relief. "Wow, that was great! How did you do that?"

"Just some Oran Berries and purified water," Duke replied. "It's mostly in the technique that brings out the most in the berries' healing properties."

"I never knew that…" Charles mumbled as he glanced around. "Where's the Pokemon?"

"Aron chased Genji somewhere and I had Teresa watch them so they don't get in trouble," Duke said as he packed up his things. "We should catch up though, they are going the right way."

"Do I want to know what happened?" Charles asked as he followed Duke towards the exit of the forest.

"Genji going on with the whole rival thing, I barely understand it myself," Duke admitted with a chuckle.

The two continued on and eventually ran into their Pokemon. All three were silent and hiding behind a few bushes while watching a group of humans. Intrigued, Charles and Duke crouched down and watched as well. Two of the humans wore matching heavy armor sets and the other was a young girl, clutching a Marill to her chest. The knights both had swords at their hips and large shields on their left arms. Both of the shields had matching symbols.

"Leave me alone!" The young girl screamed out as she backed away from the two knights. However, her foot caught on a tree root and she fell backward, almost losing her grip on the Marill. 

"Young girl, you are not fit to own a Pokemon," one of the knights said as he took a step forward. "You lack the powers necessary to protect them, you will only get them killed. Hand over the Marill."

"Leave us alone! Cheryll is a kind human!" The Marill shouted as she puffed out her cheeks.

"Shut up, Pokemon!" The other knight yelled out, causing Cheryll to start whimpering in fear.

"Just hand over the Marill and then you can leave," The first knight said, trying to reason with the two.

Duke looked over and saw that Charles was trembling in anger. Before the younger man could move, Charles placed a hand on his shoulder, "Don't. This is not our business."

"What?" Charles exclaimed in surprise. "What are you talking about? This isn't right, we have to go help her!"

"She must've broken the law around here," Duke reasoned. "I'm not about to get arrested for interfering with the knights of this area."

"Who cares about the law?" Charles exclaimed as he glared at Duke. "These two are treating Pokemon like second class citizens, treating the girl like garbage because she has no powers, and just… This isn't right!" With that, Charles broke out of Duke's grip and ran out of the bushes.

"Charles, wait!" Aron called out, following after his partner.

"Hey, you two!" Charles called out towards the knights. "Leave her and the Marill alone!" The knights, however, ignored him. "Hey!" He screamed out as he ran forward, drawing his sword. 

The knight Charles was aiming at blocked his strike easily before saying, "Official Templar business. We will take you down if needed. Leave the area immediately."

"No! Leave her alone!" Charles yelled as he grabbed his shield and bashed it against the Templar's helmet. The strike knocked back the knight a few steps before he gathered his bearings.

"You were warned," The Templar growled out darkly. He stomped the ground, making various rocks fly out before homing towards Charles. The rocks were easily knocked to the side by Aron's Vine Whip.

Duke watched as the other Templar appeared behind Charles, aiming a strike at the back of his neck. His body reacting before his brain, Duke fired out a small electric mark that attaches itself to the sword. With a pull, the sword was knocked out of the Templar's hands and flew towards the direction of Duke.

"Damn it, Charles," Duke said with a sigh as he stood up from his spot. "Guess I'm involved now too. Genji, Teresa, protect the girl and Marill. Leave this to me." 

"Right!" The two Pokemon called out before rushing over to stand in front of the girl. Duke punched his fists together, making a spark flicker between them. Seconds later, electricity raced across both of his arms as he charged towards the Templar behind Charles.

"There's another one!" The Templar without a sword yelled out. He dropped his shield and held out his arms, the wind around his arms starting to grow harsh. Seconds later, two blades of air appeared, running down his arms, and he charged towards Duke.

Duke dodged the first two strikes from the wind blades and punched the Templar's armor, making armor course through it. The Templar let out of shout before bringing his arm down, slashing Duke's cheek a bit. Some blood ran down Duke's cheek but he took it in stride. He punched the Templar once, twice, three times, knocking him back. The electricity made some of the Templar's limbs go numb but he stood back up, somehow.

Duke and the Templar engaged in close combat once again. The Templar was a lot slower from the electricity but was able to get in two more cuts. However, the two cuts got him a few more good punches from Duke and suddenly, the Templar could barely move. He raised an arm and the air around Duke started to thin but it was too slow. Duke punched him one more time, on top of the helmet, knocking the Templar out for good.

Meanwhile, Aron and Charles were successfully defending against the other Templar. Every so often, Charles was able to get some strikes in but every strike was blocked. Aron let out a growl as he knocked more rocks out of the sky before he suddenly shrunk. Looking down, he found that he was being sucked into the earth. With an annoyed growl, Aron sent out a pair of vines and grabbed the shield the Air Templar dropped. With a grunt of effort, Aron's vines threw the shield at the back of the Templar's head. The blow was hard enough to knock the Templar out, ending the fight.

"Nicely done," Duke said as he walked over, patting Charles on the shoulder before turning to Cheryll and the Marill. "Are you two alright?"

"We're fine, thank you. Both of you!" The Marill said after a pause. Cheryll was still whimpering slightly but nodded in agreement.

"Where do you two live?" Charles asked as he helped Aron out of the hole. "Maybe we can help you home."

"We live in Santalune, not too far from here," The Marill replied. "Thank you but I think I can get Cheryll home. I know a shortcut but you two are a bit too big."

"Alright…" Charles said hesitantly. "Just be careful, please?"

"Of course!" After a moment, Cheryll was on her feet and the Marill was leading in a direction close to Duke's, but slightly off course.

"_Huh… I didn't know you were so influenced by the law,_" Max said as Duke watched Charles pull Aron out of the hole.

"_I used to be. But not anymore, the law isn't always right,_" Duke replied before a light caught his attention. The Templars' bodies were glowing, confusing Duke, "_I don't… Remember this happening._"

Time seemed to slow as the Pokemon and Charles around Duke slowed to a halt. The scene around him glitched out as portions of it turned black. The light around the Templars continued to grow before Duke was blinded.

**-000-**

"What the…" Max muttered as his eyes adjusted to the lack of bright light. Confused, he looked around and found himself back in the subspace he was in when he's alone with Duke. Duke, the older version, stood next to him in a fighting stance. Looking ahead, Max saw two black shapes in front of him.

These shapes were… Hard to described. They were humanoid but there was nothing human about it. Everything about the shapes was black instead of the two white eyes and a crooked white smile. 

"Max, stay back," Duke commanded as he snapped his fingers. Electricity coursed through his body, a familiar sensation to him by now. He ran forward, the electricity making his muscles work hard and making him sprint faster.

He reached the closest figure and an electrified sword appeared in his hand. The edges of the sword were hardened so that it could strike something but the middle was loose electricity. Duke aimed the sword at the shape's head and successfully slashed it. White blood trickled down its neck area but it raised its arms, the familiar wind blades appearing on the sides of its arms.

"What is this?" Duke growled out as he summoned another sword. The two engaged in fast-paced combat, too fast for Max to keep up. However, that didn't matter as he was face to face with the other shape. Letting out a shout, Max stumbled back, just in time as a rock spike appeared where he was standing. If he didn't move, he would have been impaled through the middle of his body. 

"Max!" Duke shouted as he tried to run towards the young adult. However, his opponent raised an arm and a great wind force knocked Duke back towards it. Max let out a gasp as the figure before him grabbed the rock spite and used it like a spear, scoring a small hit on the inexperienced human. Thankfully, it was just a small slash on his left arm.

Max backed up and looked down as something caught his eye. At his feet was a conveniently placed sword, which he quickly picked up. The figure before him jabbed the rock spear forward but Max was able to parry it to the side. Seeing no other choice, Max clumsily ran forward and jabbed the sword towards the figure. Unexpectedly, the sword sunk into the shape's chest, causing a lot of white blood to gush out. Seconds later, the figure exploded, leaving no trace behind whatsoever. Max blinked a few times before looking towards Duke who was making short work of his opponent. Duke's arms flashed faster than Max can process and shortly after, the figure was no more.

Duke panted slightly before running towards Max to check upon him. It has been too long since Duke fought so he was a bit out of shape. He caught up to the surprised young adult and checked him over. Duke only saw a small slash and he hugged Max, relieved. 

"Are you okay?" Duke asked after a bit. Max numbly nodded his head and Duke hugged him harder. Suddenly, the two heard a voice.

"_Yes, Max… Get stronger… Stronger… STRONGER!" _

"That's not good…" Duke said to himself as Nuzlocke's voice ran around the subspace he had created. Duke responded by holding Max tighter.

**-000-**

**Hello plot!**

**This project is part of an extended universe with Plegian Gengar's "The Rose That Was Always Red," maycontestdrew's "The Iron Knight," and Fuzzboy's "The Courtship of the Heavenly Plates." I recommend checking out the rest of these guys out, they are amazing writers!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Welcome to another chapter where we start to really dive into these characters! I hope you all enjoy and I hope 2020 brings you all good luck!**

**Delta: Study on, Delta. I shall not give away my secrets so easily. But I hope you continue on and thanks for the reviews!  
**

**May: I agree, the law isn't always fair. I also love the abilities and magic and stuff, I'm glad you're enjoying!**

**-000-**

Max groaned as he woke up and stretched. Ever since the incident, Duke has been training Max in fighting to make sure that he can defend himself from any more of those… Creatures. Duke was also able to make it so that while Max was in the subspace, no time moved in the real world. It was a strange feeling, days went by for Max but to everybody else, no time moved at all. At least Max could attend school and actually be present mentally, unlike before, which is good since finals are right around the corner. 

It was also strange how his body reacted to the subspace. As he trained, his body became more muscular, both in the subspace and in real life. Nobody noticed, acting as if he always had muscle instead of being his skinny self. It wasn't much but it was noticeable.

He rubbed his eyes and slowly got out of bed and into the shower, letting the water run down his aching body. Thankfully there was no school today so Max had the day all to himself. The situation he was in was too confusing and mysterious and he couldn't continue walking through it blindly. He wondered where to start and decided to look up Duke.

On his way out of the house, Max heard his brother talking to Kevin about some type of video game. However, something stopped him and he listened in.

"Ready to start that Nuzlocke, Kevin?" Thomas asked as he held his Switch in his hands. "I say we run through Pokemon Sword and Shield this time."

"The one based on Galar?" Kevin asked as he raised an eyebrow. "Dude, that game sucks. They cut out most of the Pokemon, including the best Pokemon ever… Me!"

"I think it's still a fun game," Thomas replied as Max came over. "Oh hey, little bro. What's up?"

"You said something about a Nuzlocke?" Max asked as he looked the two over.

"A Nuzlocke playthrough, yep," Thomas confirmed. "It's brutal. You can only catch the first Pokemon on each route, you have to name every Pokemon you catch so you can bond with them, and if your Pokemon faints, it's dead."

"That's… Weird. Thanks though," Max said before he left the two. The Sceptile and human looked at each other, confused, but Max was too far away for them to ask any questions.

"So… You in?" Thomas asked, turning towards Kevin, who grinned.

Max arrived at the library and spent the next few hours doing research. He tried to find someone named Duke but the library's records didn't go back far enough. He searched through the internet and was able to find his family tree after a while, but he couldn't find Duke. He was able to find Luis though, who did have a sibling but their name and gender were unknown. He was also able to find the origin of Nuzlocke playthroughs but nothing about the entity named Nuzlocke. All in all, it's as if everything he's seen doesn't exist… 

"Maybe I have schizophrenia…" Max mumbled to himself, tired of looking through countless books. "That could explain everything…"

Tired, Max left the library and went home.

**-000-**

After giving Max a day off of training, Duke decided to take a day off as well. Unfortunately, he was stuck in the subspace but he was at least able to manipulate it. With a snap of his fingers, Duke found himself inside his old house. Lamar was at the table with his father and Luis while his mother cooked.

Duke smiled as he recognized what was going on. It was one of his memories, a few days he and Lamar returned from their first adventure. The two traveled through what is known today as Hoenn and had a blast. The two also became a lot stronger, to the point where Duke was offered to become a Territory Leader. He denied it, wanting to spend time with his family.

Taking a seat, Duke watched the memory play out. Everyone was talking and laughing as they had back in the past. But they didn't notice Duke. The Duke that went on his second adventure to save his family, the Duke that- 

Duke shook his head, banishing his thoughts. Happiness was replaced by sadness and Duke stood up, walking away from the memory. He was lonely. So so lonely. He can't remember what happened to him but he was still alive and he was stuck. Max was the only person who he can talk to now and it felt great! But Duke was still lonely.

He looked back at the area where the memory still played, whispering to himself, "I'll keep him safe. I wasn't able to protect you but I promise on my life that I will protect Max." With that, the memory vanished, leaving Duke alone of the dark abyss that Nuzlocke had created.

Duke sighed to himself and started to meditate, trying to increase his power in this world. It was all he could do while by himself.

The next day, Max contacted him and said he was ready to continue.

**-000-**

After a few more days, Charles and Duke found themselves in a little town called Santalune City, which Max found weird as it was a town. Charles led Duke to a tavern and the two ordered some ale and food.

"Excuse me, miss," Duke said as he walked up to the tavern keeper. "My friend and I are looking for the Territory Lord. Any idea where we can find them?"

"Sorry hon but Vince is out of town for a couple of days," the tavern keeper replied. 

"No!" Charles exclaimed as he dramatically held his head in his hands. "Duke, what will we do? There's nothing here in this town! We'll be so bored!"

"We train," Duke told Charles simply.

"If you're lookin' for trainin', I overheard a couple of fellows talkin' bout a tough Pokemon nearby that has unique attacks. Somethin' bout it protecting a pond west of here," the tavern keep told the two. Charles immediately grinned at this and jumped off his stool.

"C'mon Duke! Let's go meet this Pokemon! Maybe it has some super cool training techniques that we can learn!" Charles exclaimed before racing out of the building, Aron right behind him.

"No, I must not let my rival defeat this powerful foe before me!" Genji exclaimed as he hopped after Charles and Aron.

"It looks like you and I are the only normal ones here," Teresa said from Duke's shoulder. Duke only sighed in response before standing up and following his hyper-active teammates.

It didn't take long for Charles to find the pond the tavern keep was talking about. It was the only body of water nearby… Which meant there were a lot of people surrounding it. A Corphish stood in front of the water, claws raised, as it fended off people from taking the water. 

"Whoa, what's going on here?" Charles asked as he approached the group.

"The crazy crab won't let us get any water!" A man exclaimed. "This is the only water source nearby."

"That's not good…" Charles muttered as Duke caught up to him. Charles pushed through the crowd, the Pokemon and Duke right behind him.

"Hey, you, Corphish!" Charles yelled out as he held his sword in front of him. "I challenge you to a fight!"

"First off, the name's Cullen," The Corphish replied before brandishing his pinchers. "Second off, this be me pond. Step away, all of ye!"

"Let's make a little wager then," Charles said. "If you win, everyone here will leave your pond alone. If I win, then you come along with me as one of my partners. Deal?" At this, all of the town's citizens started crying out in disapproval before Teresa shut them up.

"Hmm… It would be nice for me pond to be left alone," Cullen muttered as he thought to himself. "Fine, ye gots yourself a deal."

"Yes!" Charles exclaimed. "Aron, let's go. Duke, can you referee?"

"I can do that," Duke replied before looking at the crowd. "Can everyone back up a bit. We don't want any innocent people to get hurt." There was some grumbling but after a moment, the crowd backed away from the area.

"Why am I always lumped into your crazy ideas?" Aron grumbled as he and Charles got into their fighting stances. Cullen mirrored them, ready to protect his pond.

"The first one to be unable to battle will be declared the loser," Duke called out as he lifted an arm before swiftly bringing it down. "Begin!"

Cullen burst into action, opening his pinchers before firing his attacks. It was a unique attack as two ice swords emerged from his claws before heading towards Charles and Aron. Surprised, Charles barely brought his shield up in time, both of the swords slamming into it. The force of the impact pushed Charles back slightly. The ice from the swords started to spread over the shield, making it too heavy for Charles to properly use.

"Damnit!" Charles exclaimed as he let go of the partly frozen shield. "Guess we can't rely on defense this fight."

"Even I can admit that attack was pretty cool," Aron said in awe before shaking his head. Cullen fired two more swords, this time made out of water, which Aron countered with a few Pin Missiles. The swords exploded, spraying water everywhere.

With a shout, Cullen ran towards the Corphish, who fired a Bubblebeam at the incoming human. Aron quickly used Vine Whip to pick up the shield and block the beam of bubbles before they hit Charles. The human, in turn, was able to reach the crab Pokemon and slashed at him with his sword. Cullen flinched, anticipating the strike, but it never came. Hesitantly, he opened his eyes and saw Charles standing there, sword pointed at the Pokemon.

"Do you surrender?" Charles asked as Aron ran over. The Corphish looked over the human, then the pond, before releasing a sigh.

"You have me beat, matey," Cullen said as he lowered his claws. "The pond be free for all." With that, cheering could be heard from the crowd surrounding them. Charles grinned and touched the Corphish's head, channeling his Rancher powers. Seconds later, the two felt a connection and the bonding was completed.

"Nice job, Charles," Duke said as Charles approached him. "You handled that very effectively."

"Thanks, Duke!" Charles exclaimed, grinning from the praise. "C'mon, I'll buy us both drinks!" Duke chuckled as he followed Charles, their Pokemon right beside them. 

As Duke followed Charles, he noticed a strange woman eyeing him. She stared at him for a few seconds before letting out a giggle and turned away. Something about her… Seemed off to Duke.

**-000-**

**This project is part of an extended universe with Plegian Gengar's "The Rose That Was Always Red," maycontestdrew's "The Iron Knight," and Fuzzboy's "The Courtship of the Heavenly Plates." I recommend checking out the rest of these guys out, they are amazing writers!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Delta- Keep going with the investigation! But it may take some time.**

**May- It looks like Duke has become a bit of a meme with the whole "spoilers" thing. I have no idea why but I thought, hey, why not make him a pirate.**

**TheFool0- Thank you for the review. I didn't draw any similarities with Assassin's Creed until the second chapter, to be honest. I agree the writing is a bit bland and I plan on working on that, it's a bit hard to give people personality when, overall, they're just normal people, ya know? I try to compensate with a cool and mysterious plot!  
**

**-000-**

"I am ready to fight!" Charles exclaimed as he burst out of the inn he and Duke were staying at. It had been a few days but the two had gotten word that Vince had finally returned from his mission.

"Charles, you don't even know where to go," Duke said as he followed his companion, their Pokemon at their sides.

"Oh… Right," Charles replied as he let out a sheepish chuckle. Duke started walking in the opposite direction and the group eventually found themselves in front of an impressive building. Max was surprised how well the building was standing as it was mostly made out of webs and string. It was obvious that the Territory Lord was a bug-type user, and Max wondered if Vince was the ancestor of Viola, the current gym leader of Santalune City.

Duke knocked on the webbed door and was greeted by a taller man who wore what Max assumed was a kimono. The man had black hair and had it tied back as a ponytail, using the same material his kimono was made out of. However, Charles and Max skipped over those features and focused on his arms. It was as if both of his arms were torn off at the elbow and now all the connects the two pieces is some web string. 

"What happened to your arms?" Charles blurted out, causing everyone to stare at him.

"Charles!" Duke admonished before turning towards Vince. "My apologies for my friend here."

Vince replied by holding a hand up, a soft smile on his face. "It is alright, Duke. Many share the same reaction. The explanation is simple, yes. You see, my arms were torn off during a fight with a dreadful Tyranitar. But something as minor as that cannot stop me and merely made me more powerful."

"Whoa…" Charles and Genji chorused, stars in their eyes as they admired the Territory Lord.

"What brings you out here, Duke?" Vince continued on, turning his attention to the experience Rancher. "Finally becoming a Territory Lord yourself, after all of these years?"

"No, but I am here to defeat you, along with Charles here," Duke replied as Charles turned his attention to Duke.

"What do you mean by Duke becoming a Territory Lord?" Charles asked, not turning his head away from Duke.

"Young Duke here is very skilled and was offered an opportunity only the strongest can take," Vince replied softly. "After one defeats all of the other Territory Lords, then they can become one themselves. Duke here was offered the opportunity years ago, but alas, he refused."

"That's amazing!" Charles exclaimed as he grabbed Duke by the shoulders, shaking him back and forth. "I had no idea you were so strong! I knew you were strong but not that strong!"

"That does present us with a slight issue, I'm afraid," Vince told them as Duke pried Charles' hands off of his shoulders. "Duke would easily complete the task and that just won't do, not at all. I wonder…" Vince put his hand on his chin in thought before snapping his fingers. "I got it! You two must take the challenge together. If young Charles here loses, so does Duke. And you both have two Pokemon each, perfect!"

"Wait, I don't think that is fair to Duke," Teresa spoke up from Duke's shoulder.

"It's alright Teresa, Charles and I can handle this," Duke said before Vince could reply. "I believe we are ready for the challenge."

"You bet your sweet arse we are!" Charles exploded.

"Follow me inside then," Vince said with a small chuckle. He turned around with a flourish and led the two Pokemon Ranchers inside.

**-000-**

Max was amazed as he looked through Duke's eyes. Everything inside the building was made out of webbing and the entire middle was just a giant spider web. Vince nimbly walked over the spider web and once he reached the middle, he turned back around.

"Your challenge starts now," Vince announced as two lines of string launched towards the group. Before anyone, except Duke, of course, could react, Genji and Aron were hit and pulled towards the ceiling. A few seconds later, the two Pokemon were completely tied up in two large balls of silky web, their heads the only thing visible. "You two must save your Pokemon before my little insects eat them from the inside out." 

"W-What kind of challenge is this?" Charles shouted in surprise.

"It's probably because I'm here," Duke said with a sigh. A moment later, the two heard a symphony of buzzing as various bug-types flew towards the two trapped Pokemon. Once they reached one of the giant balls, they started to tear at the webbing.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Charles asked as he drew his sword and shield. "Let's go, Cullen! We have to save Aron!" 

"Aye Cap'n," Cullen replied as the two ran forward. Vince gave them a soft smile before raising one of his arms. The building around them reacted to this command and a vine made out of webbing rose from the floor behind Charles and Cullen. It reared back and whipped the two in the back, sending them flying forward and into the spider web.

"That hurt…" Cullen groaned as he tried to get on his feet. However, he found that his body was stuck to the spider web and he began to squirm. "What the hell? What is this black magic?!" 

"You might not want to struggle too much," Vince softly warned the younger warrior. "You might wake up my partner."

"Partner?" Charles repeated before he heard a loud growl. Looking down, he saw a large Ariados sleeping under them, all of the webbing attached to its legs. With every movement, the large spider stirred in its sleep, causing Charles to go painfully still.

"Duke, some help might be appreciated right now!" Charles called back, refusing to turn his head in fear of waking the large spider snoring somewhat peacefully under him.

"Maybe you shouldn't run too far ahead of me before I'm ready," Duke called back with a sigh. He shared a look with Teresa before she flew off, aiming right at the bugs eating away at the webbing holding their friends. Duke carefully approached the spider web in the middle, swiftly dodging each vine whip sent in his direction.

Before Duke could reach the spider web, a Heracross flew down from the ceiling, brandishing its horn, ready to fight. Duke nodded and without any warning, the bug-type used Horn Attack. Duke was able to easily dodge the attack and fired a burst of electricity from his hand. The attack didn't do much but annoy the Heracross, who turned back around and fired a Pin Missile. Duke easily dodged this attack as well but the Pin Missile snapped parts of the spider web.

"Careful!" Charles screamed out as the web started to shake from the impact and loss of some of its support. The large Ariados stirred some more in its sleep but eventually settled down, causing Charles to exhale a sigh of relief.

"Aye, we best be gettin' our fightn' on. We ain't no cowards!" Cullen exclaimed as he aimed a pincher down and fired an ice sword directly at the Ariados.

"Wha- Cullen no!" Charles exclaimed but it was already too late. Cullen's ice sword hit one of the major support webs and shattered it once it froze over. Portions of the web started falling into the hole and before Charles could fall in, his Pokemon cut him free. Charles was able to jump and hold on to the edge of the hole, Cullen helping him up as he had reached safety.

Duke drove an electric-powered fist into the Heracross' stomach, knocking the Pokemon into the hole, just as the building shook from a roar. Vince let out a laugh as his partner Pokemon climbed out of the hole that was his home. Venom dripped from the spider's fangs, which burned holes into the floor from where the venom had hit.

"That Ariados is huge!" Charles exclaimed as he raised his shield. He looked around, a smile beginning to form. "Cullen! Let's squash this bug! Duke, you work on trying to free our Pokemon!" 

"Roger roger," Duke said as he jumped away from a web whip. As Duke ran towards the giant web balls to help Teresa, Vince walked over to stand next to his partner.

"That fire…" Vince said as he looked over Charles. "That fire in your eyes. It's rare to see one so determined as you. This… Will be fun! Remus, let's go!"

With a shout, Cullen and Charles ran forward to meet the Ariados head-on. Charles brought up his shield to smash it into the bug's face, which worked but some of the venom ate away at the shield. Cullen followed up by firing a sword made out of water at the spider's feet, freezing it once it had hit. These attacks, however, did not faze the spider as it let out a roar. Ghostly energy surrounded the spider and it disappeared before their very eyes. 

"What the-" Charles was interrupted as the spider reappeared and smashed into the human. Vince let out a laugh as he raised his arms, commanding the webs to attack his opponents. Charles let out a battle cry, slashing away at the webs and string as Cullen captured the attention of Remus.

Meanwhile, Duke was firing out bolts of lightning, taking out groups of bugs at a time but more swarmed in faster than he can knock them out. Teresa was trying her best but she found that she wasn't strong enough to take out more than one or two bugs at a time. The bugs were so close to Genji and Aron that Duke was worried for a second that they wouldn't be able to save them.

Suddenly, a large Beedrill appeared and knocked Teresa out of the air. The bird flew towards the hole and landed in the middle of the spider web. Duke reacted by throwing an electric dagger, not fully formed, at the Beedrill, knocking it out instantly. He continued to blast at the bugs, trying to keep them away from Genji and Aron.

Teresa struggled to get out of the web but had no luck. She sighed before letting out a groan as a few Spinirak started to crawl towards her on the web. In the position that she was in, Teresa knew that she was no match for the small spiders. She looked over and saw that Charles and Cullen were losing to Remus and Vince.

Charles had lost his shield to Remus' venom and his sword was yanked out of his grasp by Vince's webs. Cullen continued to try to protect Charles but he was starting to wear out. Cullen fired a Bubblebeam, countering Remus' Poison Sting, but then found himself flung through the air by Vince's vine. Cullen groaned as he wearily stood back up and watched in horror as the Ariados reared back to attack Charles.

"Charles!" Cullen shouted as he fired an ice sword at the bug. Charles looked away and saw the sword flying towards them and tried to grab it. Due to the speed, the sword cut Charles' hand a bit but he was able to hold it in his hands. The sword reacted by covering Charles in ice… protecting him from a fatal bite from Remus.

"Woah…" Charles muttered as he looked over himself. The ice did cover Charles but it acted as armor. He even found that it had created a shield made out of ice and the sword took on a form similar to his original sword, but sharper and lighter.

"Amazing!" Vince exclaimed as he held his arms out. "The perfect bond between human and Pokemon! An absolutely magnificent batting style! Show me more!"

Web vines appeared all around Charles but they froze and shattered thanks to Cullen's ice swords. Charles grinned and let out a war cry as he attacked Remus. The spider was able to protect itself but the cold was starting to slow its movements.

"This is art!" Vince shouted as more web vines started to appear around Charles. Despite the armor and Cullen's ranged support, Charles quickly found himself on the defensive. Parts of the ice armor broke off but he continued to swing the sword, cutting through many of the web vines.

Before Remus could attack once again, a bright light from the center of the building caught everyone's attention. Covered in Spinarak, Teresa was glowing a bright white before being overtaken by flames. Teresa flew out of the web, leaving a flaming trail behind her before flying directly towards the giant web balls. She used Ember and burned away the webbing holding onto her friends, freeing them from the webs. Finally, the glow died down and revealed that Teresa was no longer a Fletchling but rather a Fletchinder. Duke caught the two small Pokemon who were otherwise safe and sound.

"Well done, well done," Vince applauded as Remus pulled away from Charles. "Spectacular fighting, Charles. And it looks like Duke and his Pokemon won you the challenge."

"It wasn't me, it was all Teresa," Duke replied as he patted the top of the bird's head.

"I'm tired," Charles complained as he fell onto his back.

"Let's get some celebratory food before I give you your reward," Vince told the two as he turned around and started to walk away. After a few moments, the group situated themselves before following after Vince. However, before they could get far enough, time seemed to stop.

"Not again…" Max mumbled as he noticed that, once again, he was standing next to Duke. Some movement caught his attention and Max turned around, just in time to see a web vine whip towards in. The vine wrapped around Max's torso before pulling him towards the hole, darkness enveloping his vision seconds later. 

**-000-**

**This project is part of an extended universe with Plegian Gengar's "The Rose That Was Always Red," maycontestdrew's "The Iron Knight," and Fuzzboy's "The Courtship of the Heavenly Plates." I recommend checking out the rest of these guys out, they are amazing writers!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I have a very short chapter for ya today. But I have to warn you… EXPLICIT IMAGERY WARNING! If you cannot handle graphic scenes, skip to the end of the chapter!**

**Delta- Just to clarify, the power of the ice sword was Cullen's power, not Charles'. But it made a pretty cool scene either way. And idk… Maybe there is an Ash Ketchum? Maybe goes by the name of Red? Coincidence? I think not!**

**May- I love Cullen too, he's very fun to write. A fun and tense fight with raised stakes, can't let Duke steamroll the gym challenge now, can we?  
**

**-000-**

Max groaned as he awoke in a dark area, yet it was somehow light enough so Max could see himself. Thinking about it, the area wasn't dark, it was an area full of dark colors, like black and purple. 

"This is what I imagine the universe would look like, it's just missing the stars," Max said out loud as he got up so he was standing… Which was weird since there was no floor. However, he was used to these sensations as it was very similar to the subspace Duke inhabited.

"I wonder what this damn entity is going to do next," Max said, annoyed as he pinched his nose. "This Nuzlocke thing, whatever it is, is starting to really aggravate me. Yet it still intrigues me…"

"_Max, we meet again…_"

"I don't think meet is the right word," Max shot back. "More like terrorize as I don't even know what the hell you are. What do you even want from me?"

"_You haven't figured it out yet? I thought you were a smart one, I left clues everywhere. My my Max, I am very disappointed in you._"

"You're actually insane or sadistic. Or both," Max growled out, his patience running thin fast. "I ask again, what do you want from me?"

"_What a temper! I love it, show me more… More!_"

"Shut up!" Max yelled as he grabbed the sides of his head. The voice was everywhere around him, echoing around him. But the voice was also inside his head, bouncing around the small space that the brain occupies. "I'm done playing these damn games! Tell me what you want from me! Now!"

"_Simple, Max, very simple. The problem with a big brain is that you lack the ability to see the simple things. Now, why would I allow Duke to influence the realm that I gave you, hmm? Or maybe why did a sword randomly appear to save your life? Or how about how weak that Shadow was compared to what Duke was fighting. I can see that you've put on some muscle, good, good._"

"Yeah yeah, I get it!" Max snapped back. "You want me to get stronger. But that doesn't tell me what I want to know! What. Do. You. Want. From. Me!"

"_I'll show you…_"

The sadistic chuckle that bounced around the area started to make Max's head hurt. It was everywhere, there was no escape from the noise and it kept building and building in volume until it was almost deafening. Suddenly, the sound stopped.

A few seconds later, there was a flash of light, and after the light died down, Max found himself standing in front of Vince and his partner, Remus. While Max could see the two in front of him, it was clear that they couldn't see him. They were acting normal despite the very strange situation.

"_Now… Attack!_"

Remus' eyes glowed red as he turned towards his partner. The spider tackled Vince to the ground and started to jab Vince's chest with his sharp legs. Blood flew everywhere and Vince's screams of agony filled Max's ears.

"Stop it!" Max yelled out as he ran towards the two. However, before he could reach them, he was pushed back by an unseen force. Remus continued to maul his human partner, tearing apart the rib cage and ripping off his arms and legs.

It seemed like an eternity as Max was forced to watch the massacre. Even after his throat was ripped out, Vince was still alive and still screaming, spraying blood everywhere. Remus' venom was dissolving the ripped off pieces of Vince and soon, all there was left was Vince's head amid a pile of ripped flesh. The Ariados held up two of its legs before plunging them into Vince's eye sockets and started to tear apart his head.

Max wanted to vomit. He wanted to run away, he wanted to hide, scream, anything! But he was frozen. Eventually, there was nothing left of Vince besides a few scraps of flesh and his bones that were licked clean. There was a weird could of energy hanging around the eaten carcass of Vince, it was a pale green color that only Max can see. 

Suddenly, Remus was gone in a flash and the energy swarmed around Max before flying into his body. Max felt a strange power rush through his veins as his vision was clouded by the same pale green color. After his vision cleared, Max found himself in front of a bloodthirsty Remus, Vince blood dripping off his fangs. 

With a roar, Remus launched himself towards Max, who barely dodged it in time. The strange feeling of power from earlier grew, forcing Max to stop running. Listening to his instinct, Max raised his right arm and a string of webs fired at the spider, tripping him up as it hit his legs. Max stared in shock, unable to believe that he was able to use Vince's powers.

Another roar shook Max out of his shock and Max focused on the feeling of power rushing through him. He held up his right hand once again and some webbing came out of his palm, forming what seemed to be a spear. Max rushed forward, as did Remus, and jumped over the spider. He flung the spear down and it pierced the middle of the Ariados. Remus fell forward as blood sprayed everywhere, coating Max in a fine layer of crimson. Thankfully, the spider did not move again, disappearing in a cloud of pale green energy moments later.

"_Well done…_"

With that, the scene in front of Max shifted. He found himself standing in front of a worried Duke, who immediately ran to hug the young adult. Max couldn't help it and he broke down, crying into Duke's shoulder.

All Duke could do was hold him.

**-000-**

"Hey Mom, is it just me or has Max been acting weird lately?" Thomas asked as he helped his mother cook dinner.

"I am worried," his mother replied as she stopped chopping the onions and set down the knife. She turned around and leaned against the counter, looking at Thomas. "But I'm giving it some time. He's probably going through things that we wouldn't understand. When he wants to talk, he'll talk."

"I guess…" Thomas replied with a sigh.

"What's up with you?" She asked bluntly. "Max isn't the only one acting funny around here."

"Oh, you noticed?" Thomas asked sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head, an easy-go-lucky grin on his face. "I'm just worried about Max is all. And I've been having the strangest dreams… Would you believe me if I told you about a pirate Corphish that shoots water and ice swords?"

"You have one overactive imagination," his mother replied as she rolled her eyes, returning to her cooking. "I find it hard to believe you are the oldest out of you two. If I didn't birth you…" The two shared a laugh as they resumed talking and sharing funny stories.

Thomas, however, refused to bring up his dreams about Max…

**-000-**

**This project is part of an extended universe with Plegian Gengar's "The Rose That Was Always Red," maycontestdrew's "The Iron Knight," and Fuzzboy's "The Courtship of the Heavenly Plates." I recommend checking out the rest of these guys, they are amazing writers!  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello all! I hope you all have been doing your best to keep healthy and safe! I know I haven't, the first day of quarantine and I immediately injured myself. But no matter, I am keeping healthy!**

**Anyways, before we move on, I do plan on implementing a Q&A thing with the characters, or me if you really want. I'll try to answer them at the end of the next chapter. But I hope you enjoy this chapter, especially after the last one. Don't worry, it's more chill.**

**Delta- I don't know if I misread but I think Shuckle's Red is actually named Ash or Satoshi or something. It's been a while since I read the first chapter. But yeah! We almost have all of the main and somewhat main characters!  
**

**-000-**

It had been a few days since Duke had seen Max and it was understandable. He knew Max needed some time to himself as he could only imagine that Max saw something traumatic. Duke, however, did keep an eye on Max by seeing through his eyes. For the past few days, Max did nothing but stay in bed with the curtains drawn, only getting up every now and then.

After the fourth day, Duke decided to at least talk with Max to see how he was feeling. He pulled the young adult into the subspace and sat him down in a chair that magically appeared. Well, not magically as it was Duke's doing but that isn't important right now.

"How are you feeling?" Duke asked as he looked Max up and down. Due to only being able to look through Max's eyes, he was not able to look at Max himself. And he looked terrible. Max's hair was sticking up all over the place, there were bags under his eyes and he looked a lot paler than usual.

"Fine," Max replied as he ran a hand down his face. He then shook his head before saying, "No, not really. I'm… I still don't know what to think. I can't sleep anymore and when I do, I'm plagued by nightmares of the same thing over and over again! I can never look at a spider ever again…"

"I expected that," Duke said simply. "The first time I had to kill someone, I couldn't get over it for a week. Death screws you up, no matter how used to it you are."

"I can't keep living like this, Duke, what do I do?" Max asked, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Keep moving forward," Duke replied as he shrugged his shoulders. "After you take the time to cope a bit, you have to keep moving forward or you'll let it rule your life. Take as much time as you need right now but understand that eventually, you'll need to get back up and keep going."

"So what you're saying is that there really is no way to move on," Max muttered as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Just ignore the problem like it never happened."

"That is not what I'm saying," Duke said simply as he patted Max's shoulder. "It is true, you never truly move on. But you don't ignore it, you let it fuel you."

After a moment, Max let out a sigh before looking at Duke, "Thanks, Duke… I needed that. I still need some more time but I'm certain that I'll be able to continue soon." 

"That's good. Especially with Nuzlocke breathing down your shoulder, it is important that you get back up soon," Duke replied simply.

"What do you mean?" Max exclaimed as he shot up from his chair, tipping it over.

"Nuzlocke has specifically targeted you," Duke elaborated with no tact. "If you do not do as he demands, he will slowly torture you until you break. Of course, I do plan on destroying this entity but now is not the time and I won't be able to stop him."

"That ruins the mood a bit, Duke," Max replied as he rubbed his head with closed eyes. "Fine, let's continue."

"No," Duke said simply as he held up his hand. "You will go back and take some more time for yourself. We can continue tomorrow. I doubt Nuzlocke will do anything anytime soon, it's only been a few days."

"If you insist…" Max mumbled out, exhausted from the lack of sleep.

"Don't worry Max, I'm always around and I will try my best to keep you safe," Duke told him before waving his hand. Max's view changed and he found himself back in his room. He sighed before rolling onto his side, deciding to try to get some sleep if he can. 

**-000-**

Later that night, after a long day of doing basically nothing, Thomas finished taking care of his Pokemon before heading to bed. Kevin was already in his bed so Thomas turned off the lights and went right to sleep.

He fell asleep surprisingly fast and before he knew it, light was attacking his closed eyes. He groaned and sat up, still tired as it felt like he got no rest at all. However, upon hearing the sound of waves prompted him to stop moving, his eyes still closed from the bright light. It was strange, despite living in Alola, he was not close enough to the water to hear the waves on a daily and usually, the curtains were closed at night so the morning sun was never that bright. 

Thomas' eyes slowly opened and he found himself on a strange island. He looked up and saw the sun surrounded by various stars. Behind him was one single palm tree in the middle of a grassy area. Surrounding the grass was lots of sand and beyond that, the water. He was on an island but not one found in Alola.

Looking straight ahead, Thomas saw another tree but it was hard to describe. It was as if the tree did not want to be seen but it was still there. At the base of the tree was a wisp-like entity, something Thomas had never seen before. It looked a bit like a Ghastly but instead of purple, it was blue and had no face. 

"Where am I?" Thomas asked as he stood up. He had nowhere to go so he decided to approach the weird tree. The wisp, upon noticing him, flew up so it was eye level with Thomas as he approached it.

"Hello Thomas," the wisp greeted in a silky voice once Thomas reached it. "Sorry, it took so long to get you here. I don't have too much power but that's never stopped me before." The voice was feminine and it seemed familiar but Thomas did not know where he heard it from. 

"Who are you?" Thomas asked as he looked around.

"Damn, I guess I don't have the power for a physical form yet," the wisp grumbled before she continued. "Whatever. I am your grandmother, Thomas. I would say great grandmother but that would make me seem very old."

"You don't sound like my grandmother…" Thomas replied with a confused chuckle.

"That's because I am not your much younger grandmother," the wisp said with a sigh. "My name is Mary and I am one of your ancestors. Unlike Duke, I am tied to you by blood."

"Duke?" Thomas replied with a confused expression. "Oh yeah! That guy I've been dreaming about with Max! Oh wow, you must be super old then!"

"How rude," Mary scoffed.

"Sorry!" Thomas exclaimed with a laugh. "So this is a dream, right? I've never had a dream like this, it's interesting."

"This isn't a dream exactly," Mary said with a sigh. "You aren't as bright as your brother… Anyways, Max is in trouble and, knowing Duke, he has no support whatsoever. The poor boy forced to go through all of this basically on his own." 

"Woah, wait! Max is actually in trouble?" Thomas asked in shock.

"He is being targeted by a being I know nothing of," Mary told him. "Stupid Duke, not knowing how to ask for help. I bet he didn't even think of me… The nerve of that man!"

"You're losing me…" Thomas admitted with a sheepish grin.

"Right, let me start from the beginning," Mary said as she cleared her voice. "Max and Duke are the targets of a being of insane power. It's so powerful that I didn't notice when Duke left the stasis he was put in. Unlike the many souls that are connected with Duke, I am very close to him due to the adventure we went on and because he was my first love. That idiot… He never asks for help and I bet he didn't think of looking for me! Anyways, Duke is your uncle and I'm one of your grandparents. Since Duke is stuck with Max, I decided to choose you so we can help them both!"

"...What?"

"I'll just show you," Mary said as he wisp began to glow brighter and brighter until Thomas was unable to see anything.

**-000-**

The scene shifted to Duke and Charles, getting ready to leave Santalune City, right where Thomas' dreams had left off. Aron and Genji were around while Teresa and Cullen wanted to be sent to their respective ranches. After the two humans checked over their belongings, they were off to Route 4.

"I still can't believe we were able to defeat Vince!" Charles exclaimed as they left the little town behind, pumping his arm into the air. "Well, I can since you are very strong, Duke. But still! I am one Territory Lord closer to the wish! Yes!"

"You better be ready, Charles," Duke warned with a neutral expression. "Territory Lords can sense how many you have defeated and will adjust their power accordingly. Vince wasn't at his full strength when we fought him."

"Way to ruin the fun…" Charles replied with a sigh as his face fell. Duke looked towards his companion and blinked upon seeing his downcast expression.

"If it makes you feel better, Vince was fighting at a third level Territory Lord," Duke told Charles as he looked forward. "You are ahead of most Pokemon Ranchers from when they first start."

"Really?" Charles asked with stars in his eyes. "That's amazing! I must keep training then!"

The two continued to walk in silence for a while until they heard a scream nearby. Instinctively grabbing his sword, Charles turned towards the voice of the scream and saw the nearby bushes rustling.

"Get away from me!" A woman screamed out as she jumped out of the bushes. The woman was wearing a tight, pink dress that was made for travel. She was wearing a purple bag on her back and wore purple, leather gloves. Her hair was black and long and she wore it in a ponytail, seemingly to make it easier for travel. On top of her head was a Fennekin, who was looking behind the woman. She also wore leather boots with a dagger strapped to the side of one of her legs.

Upon seeing her, Charles dropped his sword a bit, starstruck from her appearance. The woman, who was looking behind her the entire time, ran straight into Duke's chest, knocking him back a bit.

"Are you okay?" Duke asked as he looked down at the woman in his arms. She looked up at Duke, back down to where she was, and hastily backed out of his grip.

"Mary, look!" The Fennekin yelled out, catching the attention of the group. She was pointing back towards where Mary appeared from and there were two men in black cloaks stepping over the bushes. Both were carrying jagged daggers and were leering at the random woman.

"Give us the woman and maybe we won't kill you," the one on the right demanded as they walked up to the group.

"Not over my dead body!" Charles exclaimed as he held up his sword and shield. The two men looked towards Charles and snickered.

"A powerless, eh?" The one on the left said with a laugh. "If you insist…" With that, the two men lunged and Charles held up his shield to try to block the attacks. However, an invisible shield appeared between the two attackers and Charles. Seconds later, a Vine Whip grabbed Charles from the middle and brought him back as an electric blast blew the two men off of their feet and into the bushes from where they came from.

"That hurt… A lot…" One of the men said as he stood back up. "Fine, keep her for now. We'll be back with more men and you'll be sorry." The man grabbed his fallen partner and the two disappeared in a dark smoke that flew through the air towards Santalune City.

"What was that about?" Duke asked as he righted himself from firing the bolt of electricity.

"Hell if I know," Mary replied as she fixed her hair. "Those two goons randomly appeared and started to chase me. Great, now I'll have to deal with more of them in the future."

"Don't worry, we can protect you!" Charles exclaimed as he sheathed his sword.

"Didn't she just protect you?" Aron asked with a deadpan look.

"Look, Duke is a strong guy and I'm currently training so I'll be able to take on at least ten guys at once soon," Charles continued, ignoring Aron as he kicked the Chespin away. "What do you say?"

"I suppose I have no other choice," Mary replied with a sigh. "What do you think, Audry?"

"I say let's do it!" The Fennekin exclaimed with a smile, her tail wagging.

"Sweet! You won't regret this!" Charles said as he gave her a smile. "I hope you don't mind, Duke."

"It's alright," Duke replied with a neutral expression. However, he did eye the woman, the aura she was giving off didn't feel right. She was hiding something.

Mary smiled back at Charles but caught Duke eying her. Instantly she knew she had to be careful around him.

**-000-**

**This project is part of an extended universe with Plegian Gengar's "The Rose That Was Always Red," maycontestdrew's "The Iron Knight," and Fuzzboy's "The Courtship of the Heavenly Plates." I recommend checking out the rest of these guys out, they are amazing writers!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Welcome to another chapter… Chapter 10. It is the first time I was able to reach this far in a story, I usually quit by now. I actually enjoy this one though so… I hope you are too!**

**May- Thanks! I am trying to use the psychology that I have been studying for something so… Realism it is! I can only hope I get it right moving forward.**

**Also, as a reminder, I am doing a Q&A with the characters, or even me if you so desire! If you have a question, ask it in the reviews!**

**-000-**

Max sighed as he slowly got up from his bed, a stream of sunlight leaking through the drawn curtains for the first time in the past few days. Max looked at and sighed, saying "I suppose I should take that as a sign that now is the time." He grabbed his glasses and got ready for the day.

The hot water helped wake him up and refresh him enough to the point that he was motivated. This entity, Nuzlocke, is a force to be reckoned with and Duke's revelation made Max's resolve even stronger. He will play Nuzlocke's game for now but Max vowed that he will destroy it… Somehow.

"He's alive!" Thomas jokingly exclaimed as Max walked down the stairs to grab some breakfast. "Finally, I can shove all of my chores onto you so I can veg out and game." Max rolled his eyes but a smile crept onto his face. Thomas, despite being a complete pain in the ass to Max, always somehow made him smile.

"Amazing idea," Max drawled, each word dripping with sarcasm. "A perfect opportunity for you to get even fatter."

"This fat, right here, will save my life someday," Thomas replied as he slapped his stomach. "A stab to the chest can kill you while my fat will save me!" 

"Looks like Max is back to normal," their mother observed as she popped her head out of the kitchen. "Come get some breakfast you two. Max, you must be starving at this point."

"You can give him my portion, he needs some energy," Thomas told their mother with a smile, waving his hand slightly as his attention returned to the game he and Kevin were playing. 

"Huh, you're turning down food? Who are you and what did you do to my brother?" Max asked as he rolled his eyes once again. However, his smile did fall a bit as he stared at Thomas. He could not figure out what was wrong but that response seemed very… Off.

"Hah! Take that gay boy!" Kevin exclaimed as he threw his hands up. "Imagine losing to a Pokemon!"

Max stared at the two for another moment before shrugging his shoulders and leaving to grab his mother's delicious breakfast. He smelled homemade waffles… His favorite!

**-000-**

"Again!" Duke told Max with his arms crossed. The two were in the subspace, training, with a straw dummy in front of them. Max was bent over, hands on his knees, as he panted heavily.

"This is impossible…" Max muttered once he caught his breath, standing up straight again.

"It is a power that you inherited, not one you were born with," Duke said as he shrugged his shoulders. "Compared to someone born with the powers, it would be pretty difficult to use them."

"But I used them well against Remus," Max replied as he folded his arms.

"You were in an adrenaline-high state," Duke explained. "When our life is on the line, our powers get stronger momentarily."

"That makes sense," Max conceded as he nodded his head in thought. "Though I wish we had a clear objective with the training."

"We do," Duke stated bluntly. "We have no idea which part of Vince's power you gained. I know for a fact that you don't have everything. At least you can produce the webbing."

"Fair," Max said as he got back into a fighting stance.

"Go!" Max reacted by throwing his right fist forward, palm facing the dummy. A string of webbing fired forward but it quickly fell to the ground, nowhere close to the dummy.

"Damn it!" Max yelled out in frustration as he gripped the end of the webbing that was still in his hands. With a shout, he whipped the string forward and the movement traveled along the length. The other end of the webbing shot forward, striking the dummy square of the chest.

"Hmm. That does give me an idea," Duke said as Max stared at his hand in shock. "You have a creation power. It lacks the power to be a projectile and you can't control it… But maybe you can make a weapon out of it." To demonstrate, Duke held out his hand an electric dagger materialized. Compared to the one that Max had seen, the dagger looked fully formed, as if made out of metal. 

"It does make a good whip," Max observed as he tested the string once again, trying to hit the dummy. However, the attack went wide, causing Max to sigh in annoyance.

"Yet it's nowhere close to being one," Duke stated bluntly. "We're done for the day. Tomorrow we start training you to use a whip. When you get a chance in the real world, try to grab a whip or a book about a whip and study it. Your creation relies on how much control you have over your power, how strong your power is and how much you understand what you're trying to create."

"Got it," Max replied with a nod, dropping his weapon.

"How are you doing?" Duke asked as he materialized two chairs for them to sit in.

"I'm fine," Max replied stiffly as he sat in the chair behind him.

"You're lying," Duke said after a few seconds of staring at Max.

"Fine, yes, I'm lying," Max grumbled as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'm nowhere close to coming to terms with what happened. But I need to keep going."

"Good," Duke said as he nodded his head. "You know, I'm proud of you. You have endured so much and yet here you are."

"Thanks," Max replied with a slight smile. "But I do think we should continue with your adventure. We have answers to uncover."

"I suppose you are right," Duke sighed as he stood up. "I believe we are at the part where I befriend Hugh."

**-000-**

The day after they met Mary, they were about halfway to their destination. They reached a large pond in the middle of the route, surrounded by flowers, and Charles insisted that they rest there for the night and get some training in.

"Maybe we can even see your powers, Mary!" Charles exclaimed in excitement. "I bet they're powerful."

"Er, thanks," Mary replied, a little taken aback. "I suppose I can show you what I have up my sleeves."

"Today you'll be training with Cullen," Duke told Charles. "I did see the tactic you two used during the Territory Challenge. It looks like you can bring out the power of your Pokemon in a different way so we'll be testing that."

"The ice armor was pretty sweet," Charles replied with a chuckle as he channeled his energy. It took a bit longer than the average person since Charles doesn't have his own powers, so he was unfamiliar with channeling the Rancher's Power.

"Ay, what do ya need with me, lad?" Cullen asked as he appeared in front of Charles.

"Training time!" Charles exclaimed with a grin before his expression turned serious. "We also need to bond more. You didn't listen to me during the fight and we're lucky your plan worked. At the very least, we need more communication."

"Rats! Sometimes I wish I was in me pond, spendn' all me day sleepin'," Cullen said with a sigh.

"You want to help out, Genji?" Duke asked the Froakie. "We need to work on your attack power. Speed means nothing without strength."

"I revel in training!" Genji shouted out as he jumped onto Duke's shoulder. "A hero must always train so he can defeat every villain he faces."

With that, Duke and Charles started to train with their two Pokemon by engaging in combat. A pair of eyes were watching the four train from a tree nearby. The gaze was focused primarily on Duke, who radiated the most strength out of the group.

At one point, Charles took a break and begged Mary to show him her powers. Mary, very reluctantly, obliged the energetic human. With the help of Audry, Mary set up a few dummies made out of fire before standing in front of them.

Mary held up a hand and a small rock flew to hover above it. She then threw the rock, hitting a flame dummy straight in the chest. She turned her attention to the one in the middle and focused. With pulled her hands back before thrusting them forward in a cone shape, firing a pink beam that destroyed the dummy upon impact. The remaining dummy turned sentient and fired a fire blast at Mary. She reacted by thrusting her arms skyward, erecting a nearly invisible shield that blocked the incoming attack. She threw her hands forward and the shield blasted forward, slamming the dummy into a fire and obliterating it. 

"Amazing…" Charles mumbled with a starstruck expression.

"Thanks," Mary said simply as she ran a hand through her hair. Duke saw movement in his peripheral vision and looked over to see a Venipede rolling towards Mary at a fast pace. It appeared to be using Rollout.

Duke reacted by running to block the oncoming attack. At the same time, a blue blur jumped out of a nearby tree, landing in front of the bug Pokemon and kicking it back and into a tree.

"Do not attack those that are unaware," the blue figure told the Venipede that fell to the forest floor. "Underhand tactics are for the weak."

"Asshole," the bug and poison-type replied as it limped away.

"Thanks for that, but I would have been able to handle it," Duke told the blue figure as he walked towards it. It turned around and revealed itself to be a Riolu. It looked up at Duke before getting down on one knee and bowing its head.

"I know," it replied, the voice indicating that it was male. "I wished to make an impression on you, sir."

"Impression on me?" Duke repeated. "Why would you want that?"

"Your aura is very powerful," The Riolu replied, still bowing his head. "My family was killed when I was very young and I was not trained in the way of aura like most Riolu are. I've been searching for someone with a strong aura to train me and to make me stronger."

"I appreciate the compliment but I do not know how to use aura," Duke told the fighting-type.

"I am sorry sir, I misspoke," The Riolu replied, looking up this time. "I wish to get stronger but not in the way of aura. I will figure that out myself but I know having someone powerful as my mentor will make the process easier. Please, sir, can you train me?"

"Sure, only if you drop the formalities," Duke said with a sigh. "What's your name?"

"Hugh, sir," the Pokemon replied as he stood up, a grin on his face. "Thank you so much, sir! I promise I will do my best when training." 

"We'll work on the formalities later," Duke said with a smile on his face. "Welcome to the team Hugh. I am honored that a Riolu is asking me to train them. Your species have the strongest fighters there are and are very pure of heart. Here, let us establish a bond so it's official."

The two shook hands as they both focused and soon a connection was made between the two. Duke felt the power radiate off of the small Pokemon, it was that Hugh was very strong but unable to control his power properly yet.

**-000-**

**This project is part of an extended universe with Plegian Gengar's "The Rose That Was Always Red," maycontestdrew's "The Iron Knight," and Fuzzboy's "The Courtship of the Heavenly Plates." I recommend checking out the rest of these guys out, they are amazing writers!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello all, I hope you enjoy this next chapter! Remember to leave and review and to ask the characters, or myself, any questions you may have!**

**Delta: Thanks, dude! I'm super excited to get into the Pokemon and their stuff. Fun fact, after this chapter, I start to finally focus on the Pokemon a lot more! So hype!  
**

**-000-**

Thomas woke back up to find himself on the island where he met Mary. The sun was shining bright as ever and the calm waters lazily moving with the tide. He found the tree that he still could not properly see and found the wisp floating under it.

"Hey, Mary!" He exclaimed as he ran over to the wisp. "How'd I end up here? I don't remember falling asleep." 

"That's because I called you here," Mary replied, her silky voice carrying through the island. "A connection to where Duke and Max are randomly opened up. I wanted to take the chance to try to contact them."

"Cool!" Thomas said as he gave the wisp a thumbs-up. "But… What's going on in the real world? What happened to my body?" 

"Time was stopped so I just grabbed your consciousness," Mary explained as her wisp form turned around slowly. "I always wanted to live on an island, you know? Very peaceful… Anyways, let's go!"

The wisp form of Mary shot forward, bypassing Thomas, who turned around and found a large portal that he somehow did not see before. Shrugging his shoulders, Thomas slowly followed the wisp as she flew through the portal. Once he walked through the portal, his vision turned black...

**-000-**

The day after the party met Hugh, they reached what modern-day Kalos called Lumiose City. Thomas found himself floating in the air above the party alongside Mary's wisp form, just like before. However, this time, he saw the semi-transparent form of Max walking behind Duke. Max still saw through Duke's eyes, though. 

As the party walked towards the middle of the large town, they saw a large gathering of people and Pokemon surrounding a raised platform. Most of the town's Templars surrounded this raised platform, keeping the audience at bay. Standing on the platform was a rather thin man with long, black hair that fell to his shoulders. He held a book in his hands as he spoke to the public, the Templars standing around him protectively. Standing behind the speaker were a few figures adorned in the same robes as the men that chased Mary a few days prior.

"What's going on?" Charles asked as they reached the audience.

"Shh! The Professor is about to give his speech!" One of the audience members told him before turning back around.

"Professor?" Charles repeated, just to be shushed again.

"Thank you all for coming!" The Professor announced as the crowd settled down. "In today's society, it is common for people and Pokemon to work together and many form powerful bonds. Little did we know that the bonds between people and Pokemon can improve the power of Pokemon!

"There are various methods of increasing the power of Pokemon through bonds. We all know that there are some Pokemon that can only evolve through happiness, like Pichu and Azurill. Research has shown that Pokemon that spend more time with humans and form a powerful bond with humans will have an easier time evolving through happiness. We all also know that the move Return relies on happiness, but the bond between humans and Pokemon can power that move even more.

"But that's not all! We found that the bonds between people and Pokemon can achieve another evolution. Charizard and Gyarados are two examples of Pokemon that my team and I have observed evolving into another form during battle! This form does not last long and only Pokemon with a strong connection to their human partner can achieve this evolution.

"My team and I have learned of a strange power found on remote islands. The bond between a human and Pokemon allows the Pokemon to perform a new and devastating attack. A lot more research is also required for this topic, and we have sent a team down to investigate these strange islands.

"However, there is a new power that has surfaced recently. The new form and the strange power from the islands is old news. We have found a new power that is only achieved through a strong bond! The strongest Rancher in this region achieved this power not too long ago. Through the bond with his Pokemon, he was able to gain their fighting abilities and vice versa. People and Pokemon, fighting side by side and sharing power… That is what the power of bonds can achieve. We call it Battle Connection for now as we further the research of this topic.

"Thank you all for coming, once again!" The Professor continued as the Templars beside him started to walk away from the platform. "We hope to research more of this strange power and give you more information! The bond between a human and a Pokemon is precious… And it is powerful!" With that, the Professor turned away and the audience began to clap.

"That was… Something," Duke said as he turned towards the group. "I've never heard about any of these strange powers that he spoke of."

"They sound amazing!" Charles exclaimed with a grin. "I want to see these powers for myself! Oh! I wonder if I can do them with my Pokemon! Aron, what do you say?"

"You're crazy," The Chespin replied with a deadpan expression.

"You're never with me!" Charles cried out as he slumped to the ground in defeat."You're a cruel Pokemon! Cruel!"

"Is he always like this?" Hugh asked Duke as he stared at Charles.

"Pretty much," Duke confirmed as he nodded his head. "Anyways, Charles, we should go find the Territory Lord of this area."

"Yes sir!" Charles exclaimed as he jumped to his feet.

"You're looking for the Territory Lord?" The same man from earlier asked. "Unfortunately you'll have to wait. Alicia had to go visit her sister in Courmaline City. Rumor has it that her sister is very ill, I doubt she'll be back anytime soon."

"Oh no!" Charles exclaimed as he visibly deflated. Aron face-palmed and slapped the human with a Vine Whip, knocking him to the floor.

"That's alright, thanks for the information," Duke told the stranger, who shrugged his shoulders and left the group alone. "I suppose we can go elsewhere. We can go in any direction and hit a well-known town that has a Territory Lord." 

"I just came from the direction of Cyllage City," Mary said. "The Territory Lord came back from a vacation not too long ago so I doubt she plans on leaving soon. That might be the best place to go."

"Sounds like a plan," Duke replied as he picked Charles up from the ground. "Also, Mary. The men with the Professor, they shared the same clothing as your pursuers. Do you think they work together?"

"Not that I know of," Mary answered with a sigh as she put a hand on her hip. "I don't even know why they chased me, to begin with. Might be because of how amazing I look, I get crazy men chasing me all of the time." 

"Makes sense to me," Charles said as he nodded his head before getting smacked by Aron once again.

"Ignoring that, I think it's best we find an inn soon," Mary said as she rolled her eyes. "I want to sleep in an actual bed for once, it has been way too long."

"Can we get some sweets first?" Audry asked with a yip. "Lumiose City is well known for its cupcakes! May hasn't had some yet!"

"May?" Duke asked curiously.

"We used to have an egg before we met you guys," Audry explained before Mary could say anything. "The egg hatched a few days before we were randomly chased by those guys. It hatched into an Azurill and became one of Mary's partners!"

"She and Audry are the only Pokemon I'm partnered with," Mary added. "May is still a baby, I didn't want her with us if we were going to get chased again."

"That's fair," Duke replied with a neutral expression. At that point, the crowd had almost completely disappeared and the sun was starting to set, they had spent most of their day getting to Lumiose City. "I do think we should get some food. Shall we?"

Before the group started to move, they seemed to freeze in place. Suddenly, there was a flash of bright light that blinded Max and Thomas.

**-000-**

After the light cleared, Max found himself standing in the same place as before. However, he was able to see Duke but no one else, they had all vanished.

"Great… Looks like another Nuzlocke thing…" Max grumbled as he looked around the area. As he did, he saw another person drop out of the sky and land in some nearby bushes.

"Oh dear, Thomas!" A familiar voice called out as a wisp floated down to where the person had fallen.

"Thomas?" Max repeated as he ran over to the bushes. As he reached them, his brother sprang up, a confused expression on his face.

"Mary, I thought you said I wouldn't fall," Thomas complained as he brushed leaves off of himself.

"Thomas, what the hell are you doing here?" Max asked in shock as Duke finally reached the two.

"Mary, what are you doing here?" Duke asked as his eyes fell on the wisp. "And why are you like… That?"

"Well, you see, some things happened and… Look, I'll explain everything later," the wisp told them as Thomas looked around.

"I am so confused right now…" He muttered to himself as he stepped out of the bushes. "Where did everyone go? And why do you look so different, Duke?"

"Where do we even begin…?" Max asked himself as he pinched the bridge of his nose. A strange sound caught his attention, however, seconds later.

"I think we have some company," Duke stated as he readied himself. Seconds later, two shadow creatures appeared in front of them with another human standing behind them. The figure was wearing a black cloak with metal plates along their abdomen, acting as armor. There was a sword to their side and they were wearing a red and black mask. Everything else was covered by the black cloak.

"Duke…" Mary started.

"I know, I got it," he replied as electricity surrounded his body. "Max, stay back and protect Thomas. I'll take care of them."

"You got it," Max replied as the two shadow creatures started to advance forward. They took on the form of Templars, swords at the ready. The other human, however, just stayed where they were.

Duke blasted forward with electricity covering his fists. He reached the first creature and took it out with one punch. The electricity that Duke gave off blasted the creature to bits, making the shadows disappear. The second creature tried to catch Duke by surprise before he easily avoided the sword the creature was using. He punched the creature, blowing it apart like the first one.

The other human slowly started to clap as Duke turned his attention to them. With a chuckle, the human said, "Nice to see you again, Duke… It has been too long." The human's voice sent shivers down Max's spine. It was hard to distinguish the gender of the voice but it was deep and… Scratchy. Max couldn't explain it but it sounded horrifying.

"I thought you were dead," Duke said as electricity enveloped his form.

"Oh, I was," the human replied. "But Nuzlocke brought me back just to… Torture you some more."

"Mary, who's that?" Thomas asked as Duke ran forward to meet the human in combat.

"We never knew his actual name but he went by the name Priest," Mary explained. "He's a horrible person, especially what he did to-"

Mary was interrupted by a scream behind them. Max turned and found that there was another shadow creature and it had its sword ready to strike Thomas. With a shout, Max threw his right hand forward and a string of webbing shot forward, wrapping itself around the blade before the creature could swing it.

"Get away from him!" Max shouted as he grabbed the webbing and pulled it towards him. The blade was pulled out of the creature's grasp before disappearing entirely. Max pulled Thomas toward him as another shadow creature appeared next to them.

Meanwhile, Duke had summoned an electric sword and was trading blows with Priest. Neither were giving much ground as sparks flew from the swords hitting each other. Duke was enraged, his usual neutral expression replaced with anger, and his fighting style showed it.

"I'm glad that you remember our time together, Duke…" Priest told his opponent as he blocked another attack. "The despair you must have felt back then… Oh, it fills me with joy… Come, let me kill some more…"

"Fuk you!" Duke shouted out as he pressed his attack. "I will never forgive you for what you've done!"

As Duke continued to fight Priest, Max, Thomas and Mary easily found themselves surrounded by the shadow creatures. Max did his best to counter all of their attacks and was successful so far. However, when countering another slash towards Thomas, he felt a searing pain in his shoulder. Looking over, he saw a sword wrapped in shadows pull back as blood began to pour from his left shoulder. He gasped in shock and pain as he grabbed his shoulder as a reaction.

Seeing the blood begin to spill from the wound caused Max to fall to his knees. Flashbacks to the death of Vince filled Max's mind, images of blood and Vince's cries blinding him. He began to shake violently as tears welled up in his eyes as Thomas hugged him. The creatures descended upon the two as Max let out a loud cry.

"Max!" Duke shouted as he jumped back from Priest upon hearing the cry. "No!"

Suddenly, there was another bright light. This one came from the area the shadow creatures surrounded. It came from Max. It started to grow in size, passing through the creatures and swiftly approached Duke. Once it reached the Pokemon Rancher, Duke's powers reacted by letting out an electric explosion. Once the dust settled and the light faded away, there was another figure standing beside Duke.

"Genji?" Duke asked as the Greninja cracked its neck.

"The hero has arrived!" The evolved form of Genji announced. "Duke, team up with me so we can destroy these evil villains once and for all!"

"Right!" With that, a strange light enveloped both Duke and Genji. Electricity surrounded the water-type Pokemon as two large water shurikens appeared in Duke's hands.

"Looks like my work here is done… What a shame…" Priest said as he vanished from sight. Duke and Genji didn't notice, however, as they exploded in action.

The two ran towards the shadow figures that were stunned from the light Max had created. Genji fired blasts of electrified water from his hands that separated the shadow creatures from the two humans on the ground. Duke then easily slashed the creatures apart with the two shurikens until none were remaining.

"Max, you're going to be okay," Thomas whispered to his brother after the creatures were taken care of. "I've got you. We've got you."

Max then blacked out.

**-000-**

**This project is part of an extended universe with Plegian Gengar's "The Rose That Was Always Red," maycontestdrew's "The Iron Knight," and Fuzzboy's "The Courtship of the Heavenly Plates." I recommend checking out the rest of these guys out, they are amazing writers!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Here's a more lowkey chapter to start explaining a lot more. It's needed greatly considering what the characters have been through… Anyways, enjoy it! It's a lot more relaxing in my opinion.  
**

**-000-**

It had been a month since the incident with Priest and the shadow creatures. Duke wanted Max to take a break as he knew that Max never fully recovered from witnessing Vince's death. Duke also knew that everything was happening too fast and he needed time to figure out how to block out all of their enemies.

During this time, Max took more time for himself. Thankfully school had ended for him so he no longer needed to do school work, which he failed to do in the end. Thomas was brought up to speed on everything that happened and dedicated himself to taking care of Max. Both knew for sure that they were not dreaming. Everything they have been through is real.

Mary and Duke were not able to catch up after the incident. For an unknown reason, the two cannot reach each other in their current forms. They were able to communicate through Max and Thomas though so communication was still there.

Nuzlocke had vanished, Max nor Duke had not heard from the powerful entity. It was still unclear what his intentions were and why he was doing what he was doing. Everything was just a huge unknown. However, it was clear that there was something about Max that Nuzlocke is after.

After about two weeks, Max was back to relatively normal and spent his time researching the past. However, there were no records during Duke's time, and the ones that did somehow go that far back had incorrect information. It made sense why Mega Evolution was a "new" topic, it seems like someone screwed with the documentation of history. Max decided to start recording what happened in the past during his free time.

**-000-**

After a month, Duke felt confident that they could continue. He stopped using the ability to pause time so Thomas and Max could be in sync. Now that Thomas was a part of this, it was best to keep him informed. 

"Duke, before we go, I have a question," Max told the older human once they were in the usual subspace. "How are you able to control… All of this?"

"I can answer half of that," Duke replied as a chair appeared behind him. Taking a seat, he continued, "It's like my electric abilities. Like all abilities, you need a combination of understanding and training, which is similar to how Pokemon use their moves. First I need to study this place and understand it. Once I do that, I need to practice and train using this ability. Keep that in mind because you need to do the same thing with your abilities."

"And what do you mean by answering half of it?" Max asked. "What's the half you're not telling me?"

"Frankly, I don't know how I acquired this ability," Duke stated bluntly. "People are born with only one power, which is what separates us from Pokemon. I was born to use electricity, Mary was born with psychic abilities, so on and so forth. You're a special case. To have two abilities is unheard of. What makes it even stranger is that it's an ability that doesn't follow Pokemon typings."

"Oh, your abilities follow Pokemon types?" Max asked, which earned him a nod in response. "Interesting… So humans are typeless Pokemon and can only use moves from one type."

"Pretty much," Duke confirmed. "Though can create moves outside the realm of basic Pokemon moves. It was never established why that is but professors theorized it had something to do with creativity. Humans just have more of it compared to Pokemon."

"I see…" Max mumbled in thought. "So if you can imagine it, you can do it?"

"Right," Duke said as he nodded his head. "With enough understanding of your powers and enough training, you can utilize them as I can. But it's very difficult." 

"Is that why you're so powerful by the time you met Charles?" Max asked.

"That is correct," Duke replied as he summoned a chair for Max. "During my time in Hoenn, I was trained by a very powerful electric user like me. He taught me how electricity is about power and how it courses through every person. Electricity is like a liquid when it's coursing through something but it's very unpredictable when it's not moving through something. I can use electricity to power my own abilities, improve my reactions, and fire it forward. The best way to describe it, for me, is it's 'snap' like movements."

"That's fascinating," Max said as he took out a book and pen and wrote down the information. "It's a shame that information about this no longer exists." 

"It does, with me," Duke said with a simple chuckle. "Well, shall we continue? Thomas is waiting for us."

**-000-**

Even at night, Lumiose City was still very bright. A lot of people with the ability to use electricity had moved to the town to learn more from the Territory Lord. Duke told Max about how Alicia figured out how to use electricity to produce light. She found that certain crystals from Glittering Cave can hold electricity for long periods of time. At first, these crystals were used to light up areas around the then small town but as word got around, more electric users moved to the area, quickly increasing its population. Humans used these crystals in different ways, creating various inventions and in the future, creating one of the most impactful inventions ever: the lightbulb. Electric types were drawn to this energy so it's easy to find a random Shinx or Pikachu walking around the town.

The next morning, Duke dragged an exhausted Charles out of the town as Mary begrudgingly followed behind them. She made sure to keep a distance from the two as she gave Audry another cupcake.

"Why am I even still with these two?" Mary asked herself with a sigh, keeping her voice low so that only Audry could hear. "The powerless is a loser and the big guy is onto me."

"I think it's a great idea!" Audry exclaimed quietly. "They're better company than your other… companions. Plus Duke and Charles can protect you until you get your strength back!"

"Not so loud!" Mary shushed Audry. "I can't let other people know that I've almost lost my abilities! Then I'll be dead for sure!"

"Oops… Sorry," Audry replied with a small giggle, blushing faintly. "Mary, I love you. And I want you to stay alive and you won't last long by yourself. Not with the cult after you. And I'm not exactly strong."

"You've got a point…" Mary agreed with a frown. "Fine, I'll stick with them for now."

"Yay!" Audry cheered. "You'll find that they're really awesome company, too. Just try to enjoy yourself for now and _relax."_

"I won't relax until the cult stops chasing me," Mary replied before speeding up to catch up with Duke and Charles. Charles gave her a bright smile while Duke just glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

As they continued on the path, the number of trees increased. Soon, the group found themselves, once again, in a forest. There was a path due to frequent travel between Lumiose City and Camphrier Town as it was on the way to Glittering Cave. The forest was full of Pokemon, as Pidgey and Fletchling flew from branch to branch, and Oddish continued to pop up from the ground before running from the party. 

"Hey Mary, look!" Audry exclaimed from atop of Mary's head, pointing towards a couple Pecha berries hanging from a tree. "It's your favorite berries!"

Charles' head shot up as he looked to where Audry was pointing. He grinned towards Mary before saying, "Hey, I'll grab ya some!" 

"There's no need," Mary replied with a sweatdrop, holding up her hands. "I'd be alright without any."

"Oh, I insist," Charles replied as he walked towards the base of the tree. He started to slowly climb the tree as the rest of his group stood there awkwardly. Aron held his head in his paws while Mary gave Charles a tight smile, too awkward to say anything.

"Almost got it," Charles muttered as he continued to climb up the tree. Eventually, he reached the branch that held the fruit and started to crawl across it. Once he was halfway across, however, the branch broke in half, causing Charles to fall. He groaned after he hit the ground.

"Charles, you really need to think and stop being so stupid," Aron chastised his partner as he used Vine Whip to lift the human back up. "It was clear that Mary didn't want the damn berries. Now you're hurt." 

"No, it's fine Aron. I appreciate it," Mary told the Chespin as she let out a high pitched giggle.

"Mhmm, sure," Aron replied as he rolled his eyes. "The berries are crushed so let's just move on."

"Are you fine to continue, Charles?" Duke asked as Aron turned to continue walking forward.

"As if a little fall can keep me down!" Charles exclaimed as he threw a fist into the air.

"Don't push yourself too much if you're hurt," Duke said as he shrugged his shoulders. "It'll do you no good to fight while injured. It increases your chances of dying."

"Well, I'm not hurt so let's go!" Charles replied though he did pale a bit.

**-000-**

Later that night, the group stopped and made camp for the night. After hunting down some Bunnelby and other Pokemon, the group started to cook their dinner. While sitting around the fire and waiting for the meat to cook, Charles decided to strike up a conversation. 

"So, Mary," he began as he turned the meat slightly, "why did you become a Pokemon Rancher?"

"No real reason," Mary lied as she stared into the fire and stroked Audry's back. "I just wanted to travel the world. See what Pokemon were out there and stuff." Duke passed her a distrusting glance which Mary and Charles missed.

"That's pretty cool," Charles commented as he nodded his head. He then turned to Duke, asking, "What about you? I never asked before."

"It runs in the family," Duke stated. "It's been years since I became a Pokemon Rancher and I traveled around a region named Hoenn."

"Hoenn? Never heard of it," Charles said as he poked the still cooking meat. "It sounds amazing though."

"_I also have a question, Duke_," Max said as the group fell silent. "_What is a Pokemon Rancher exactly?_"

"_There's not much of a difference between Pokemon Ranchers and Pokemon Trainers,_" Duke replied in his head. "_Pokemon Ranchers are humans that own land and have Pokemon partners. Some wish to challenge Territory Lords, others like to put on shows with their Pokemon. Many just become Ranchers because they befriend a Pokemon and wish to establish an official connection with them. We're only called Pokemon Ranchers because Pokemon ranches are very common. Though I cannot tell you how the Pokemon Rancher Association knows when someone wishes to become one._"

"_I see…" _Max said before his voice faded away.

"I think it's obvious why I wanted to become one," Charles said after a few moments. "I want to prove that someone like me, someone without abilities, can take on the Territory Lords and win! I will prove it and I will show that powerless can accomplish amazing things still!"

"You know, even I can admit that that sounds like a noble goal," Mary admitted as she folded her arms.

"And I promise you that I will help you achieve your goal," Duke told Charles as he grabbed the meat from the fire.

"I don't want to offend you by asking this but… Why?" Charles asked as he grabbed a stick before passing one over to Mary. "You're a super-powerful Pokemon Rancher and I'm a nobody powerless. You could even become a Territory Lord!" 

"You remind me of a younger me," Duke replied simply before taking a bite of his food. "I wasn't even able to control my powers when I went on my journey. I had a seemingly impossible goal and someone believed in me and trained me. So I'm repaying the favor."

"I see…" Charles muttered as the group and their Pokemon continued to eat their food. "Well… Thank you, Duke. You're a pretty amazing guy."

"You will fall by the hands of the powerful Genji!" The Froakie shouted as he used Quick-Attack to hit a random Pancham who was trying to steal his food.

**-000-**

**This project is part of an extended universe with Plegian Gengar's "The Rose That Was Always Red," maycontestdrew's "The Iron Knight," and Fuzzboy's "The Courtship of the Heavenly Plates." I recommend checking out the rest of these guys out, they are amazing writers!**


	13. Chapter 13

**-000-**

Early the next morning, when the sun was peeking over the horizon, a strange noise woke up Duke and Genji, who were the ones closest to the noise. Without any noise, Duke got up and quietly left the campsite to investigate the noise. Genji followed suit and was about to shout something before being interrupted by Duke. The human pointed to the sleeping forms of their companions before continuing to where he heard the noise. After he felt like he was far enough away, Duke concentrated and brought forth Teresa.

"Sorry to wake you up early, Teresa," Duke apologized as the bird shook herself awake. "Can you go back to the group and let them know we'll be back when they wake up?"

"Sure, no problem Duke," Teresa replied with a yawn.

"Also, keep a close eye on Mary," Duke continued as he patted the top of Teresa's head. "There's something off about her and I doubt that Charles notices anything. Just make sure she doesn't harm anyone."

"O...Kay, you got it," Teresa replied slowly before slapping her wings to get into the air. "Don't take too long, Duke. We still have to keep moving."

"I promise it won't take long," the human replied as the Froakie hopped onto his shoulders. "And I'll get a report on my family later." Teresa nodded her head and seconds later, she was off.

"I wonder what that noise was, Duke," Genji said as they continued walking through the forest. "I bet it's enemies that want to ambush us! Or a secret society cult that is planning on taking over the world and only we can stop them!"

"I don't think it's any of those, Genji," Duke replied bluntly. "The sound wasn't anything natural but I doubt it's anything harmful."

"I guess we'll find out," Genji said with a grin as he hyped himself up for a battle.

"_A report on your family?_" Max asked as Duke and Genji fell silent. "_Is that why Teresa isn't around as much as Genji and Hugh?_"

"_Correct,_" Duke replied. "_I was really worried about my father and the forest's corruption. So I left Teresa behind whenever I could so she could keep an eye on the family alongside Lamar._"

"_A great idea,_" Max muttered before going silent to continue to observe the scene in front of him.

After a few moments, Duke and Genji stumbled upon a pond where they saw another human with a Pokemon, both standing on the water. The human was clad in dark blue clothing with all but their eyes covered. There were a few shuriken and kunai lining their waist. The Pokemon was a Frogadier with alternate colors. The body was a lighter shade of blue while the head was a darker blue.

"...performance was almost perfect," the human told the water-type. "At this rate, you'll be able to ace the test to become part of the Ninja Association."

"R-Really?" The Frogadier asked as she blushed faintly. "I don't know… What if I screw up during the test? I may be good now but what about later?"

"That makes sense, they're members of the Ninja Association," Duke said as he stepped out of the foliage. As he did this, Genji jumped off his shoulders and jumped onto some rocks in the pond, directly in front of the two.

"You're a part of the same evolution line!" Genji exclaimed as he pointed at the Frogadier. "I want to fight!"

"Genji…" Duke said with a sigh as he walked over to the Froakie, using stepping stones in the pond to reach him. "Sorry about him. We'll get out of your way so you can continue your training."

"It's alright," the human replied as Duke picked up a disappointed Genji. "So you have a Froakie? Did you ever consider ninja training?"

"Hmm… I didn't consider it to be honest," Duke replied. "His father and I, years ago, underwent training from the Ninja Association when I was in the Hoenn region. He did excel very well, it might be good for you, Genji."

"My father was a ninja?" Genji asked with stars in his eyes. "That's so cool! I want to try!"

"I am doing some more training to help Lily gain some more confidence before the test, maybe training with someone else can help her out," the human said as he folded his arms. "Name's Kage, nice to meet you."

"I'm Duke and this is Genji," Duke replied as he started to make his way to shore. "What's your plan of action next?"

"Well…"

**-000-**

Duke, Kage, Genji, and Lily were jumping through the trees, trying to be as silent as possible. The two ninjas and Duke were doing just fine but Genji was having some problems. The Froakie was making a lot of noise as he jumped from branch to branch, he occasionally lost his balance and broke a number of branches. Genji panted hard as he tried to keep up with the rest of the group. 

After a while, Kage gracefully jumped to the ground, still making no sound whatsoever. Lily and Duke followed suit, making little to no noise when reaching the ground. A moment later, a tired Genji reached the group and crashed into the ground, making Kage and Lily cringe a bit from the amount of noise he made.

"That was… Something," Kage said as Genji stood up.

"It's alright, it was your first time Genji," Duke said as he patted the Froakie's head. "You've got your father's blood in you. In time you'll become an expert."

"Yeah… Yeah, you're right!" Genji exclaimed as he puffed his chest out. "I will be the best ninja ever and I'll beat my father to prove it."

"That's the spirit," Duke said before he turned to Kage. "What's next?"

**-000-**

Kage, Lily, and Duke were standing on one leg on poles in the middle of another pond. They were practicing their balance and endurance as you need plenty of both to be a successful ninja. Genji, however, was struggling. The Froakie kept swaying from side to side as his body shook from the strain.

After a few more minutes, Genji's leg gave out and he fell into the water with a large splash. Lily noticed this and immediately dove into the water, making a significantly smaller splash than Genji. She rose back to the surface with an exhausted Genji in her hands.

"Thanks, Lily," Duke said as he grabbed Genji from the Frogadier. "Don't worry Genji, your father was great at balance. You'll get it in no time." 

"Yeah…." Genji said with a sigh as Duke brought him to shore. Duke grabbed some Oran Berries and gave them to Genji, who already felt his energy returning.

"Excellent job, Lily," Kage told the water-type as they reached shore as well. "You instantly reacted to someone falling into the water and saved them with little noise."

"T-Thanks Kage," Lily replied bashfully as she rubbed the back of her head, a slight blush on her face.

"Well, next up is weapon practice," Kage told Duke and Genji. "I have extras for you two so no worries."

**-000-**

Nearby, Kage had set up a few targets for them. The four were using kunai and the objective was to hit the center of the target as many times as possible. Lily and Kage were easily hitting the center of the target in quick succession. Duke was also hitting the center of the target by using his magnetic powers but wasn't as fast as the two ninjas. Genji, however, was having a lot of difficulty.

The Froakie was having difficulty throwing the weapon straight and it didn't have enough power. The kunai fell short from the target and when they did have enough power, it hit everywhere but the actual target. After a few more attempts, Genji grew frustrated and flung the kunai to the side.

Lily watched as Genji flung the kunai and saw that it was headed towards a random Ducklett, who froze in fear upon seeing the incoming weapon. The Frogadier spat a Bubble at the kunai and easily hit it off course, saving the Ducklett.

"Well done Lily, that was amazing!" Kage praised as the Ducklett waddled away quickly. "Your reactions are spot on."

"Nice try Genji," Duke said as he retrieved the rogue kunai. "You'll get it soon. Your father was an excellent shot, it didn't take him long until he consistently hit the center of the target." Genji only replied with a sigh as he shook his head.

**-000-**

"Alright Genji, this is a technique that most Pokemon and humans can't do," Kage explained as he stood by the water of the pond. "Water-type Pokemon and humans with water abilities are able to walk on water, which is a very difficult feat. Some other Pokemon and humans can also do this but with specific abilities and lots of training." 

"Unfortunately I can't do it so you're doing this solo," Duke told Genji. "You got this."

"Yeah… I got this," Genji said with a smile. However, the smile faltered as Duke looked away and Genji sighed to himself.

"The objective is to be calm and still, just like the water in the pond," Kage continued to explain as he slowly stepped onto the water. "You must match the movements of the water calmly and slowly. This requires some water manipulation but it must not be too violent or sudden or else you'll fall under."

"I got this!" Genji exclaimed, albeit more quietly than normal, as he walked up to the edge of the water. He took a deep breath and stepped out onto the water. Surprisingly, his foot didn't fall under the water. Excited, Genji took his other foot off of the ground and he stood above the water.

"Yes!" Genji exclaimed as he placed his other foot down. However, the movement was rough and Genji lost balance, throwing him into the water. Lily, who was closest, reached into the pond and pulled the Froakie out. 

"I'm done," Genji stated simply as he threw up his hands, turning away from the pond.

"It's alright Genji," Duke started. "Your father was amazing at this, he got it on his first try. You'll be able to-"

"You know what, shut up Duke!" Genji shouted as he turned around and faced the human. "My father this and my father that! I don't care! I am not my father, I am not this, I can never be a ninja-like him! I'm just a disappointment!" With that, Genji hopped away quickly, leaving behind a surprised Duke. 

"...I screwed up," Duke said with a sigh after a moment. "Damnit, I was so focused on how well his father did that I forgot that Genji isn't Lamar." 

"We'll wait here for the two of you," Kage told the other human.

"You got it," Duke replied before running off in the direction Genji went.

**-000-**

"Stupid Duke wanting me to be my father, stupid father being so good," Genji muttered as he walked through the forest. "Stupid me for being worthless!"

With a growl, Genji gathered water in his hands before slamming it into a nearby trunk. In his emotional state, he didn't realize that he used Water Pulse, a move he was never able to use before. By now, the sun was high in the sky and the forest was active.

"Genji!" Duke called out as he ran through the forest. The sound of the earlier attack attracted the human and he soon found a moping Genji. "Genji, there you are."

"Here to compare me to my father again, tell me how great and wonderful he was?" Genji asked, not looking at his partner.

"No, no. I came here to apologize," Duke told him as he sat on the ground next to the frog. "Your father was my first partner and we went through so much together. And now here I am on another adventure and I'm separated from my best friend… Admittedly, it does not feel the greatest."

"I...I'm sorry Duke," Genji said as he placed a hand on Duke's arm. "I never really thought about that."

"It's fine," Duke replied. "I feel better knowing that my family is in his hands. You just remind me of him… A lot. You're both eccentric, powerful… You're both amazing Pokemon."

"But I'm nothing like my father," Genji said with a sigh. "I knew he was amazing and powerful. I went on this adventure to prove that I can be as strong as him, maybe even stronger! But I couldn't do what he did."

"Because you aren't him," Duke stated as he stood up, Genji in his arms. "Lamar is one of the best ninja Pokemon I have ever met. But you're not Lamar. You are Genji, meaning you have different skill sets. We need to figure out what you excel at and focus on that." 

Before Genji could reply, the two heard a shout that sounded like it came from Lily. Without thinking, Genji jumped out of Duke's arms and raced back to the pond, Duke right behind him.

They reached the pond and found a pair of Templars standing over a fallen Kage, blood on their swords. They were laughing to themselves as they slowly advanced on Lily, who stood frozen in place.

"Hey, get away from her!" Genji exclaimed as he fired a Bubble at the Templars. The attack didn't do much but it did catch their attention.

"Oh, another ninja?" The Templar on the right asked as he turned around. "And a shrimp at that. How funny."

"This one has more spirit than the larger one," the second Templar said as she turned around. "I'd like to play with this one first."

"Why are you attacking ninjas?" Duke asked as he glared at the two. "Aren't Templars supposed to uphold the law?"

"We do," the male Templar replied. "But being a Templar gives you so much power. What's the point of having this power if you're not going to use it?"

"And we hate ninjas," the female replied.

"That's messed up!" Genji exclaimed as he growled under his breath. "You're supposed to be the heroes! But you're just villains."

"...And?"

"And it's my job to defeat you!" Genji shouted as he charged another Water Pulse in his hands. He was about to throw it forward but stopped himself as Duke's words rang through his hand.

"_Because you aren't him, you are Genji._"

With a shout, the Frokaie ran forward with the Water Pulse in one hand. He jumped at the male Templar and rammed the attack into the Templer's chest. The attack pushed the Templar back and he flew into the pond. 

The other Templar turned and tried to slash at Genji but missed as the water-type dodged by using Quick-Attack. He charged another Water Pulse and slammed it into the Templar's side, throwing her into a tree and knocking her out instantly.

"Well done Genji, that was amazing," Duke told the Froakie as he walked over to check on Kage. The human ninja had a few cuts but they were shallow, it was clear he was pretending to be more hurt than he was.

Lily jumped into the water and pulled out the male Templar and laid him out on the ground. Genji's attack earlier had knocked him out as well as the group left the area, leaving the Templars alone.

"Well done Lily, we had them fooled," Kage told the Frogadier with a chuckle after they put enough distance between them and the Templars. "You definitely have deception down."

"I'm glad that you two would have been able to handle yourselves even if we didn't arrive in time," Duke told them as Lily hid her face from the group.

"It seems like your Froakie is amazingly strong," Kage observed. "He might not be ninja material but he clearly has some skill."

"I am the best!" Genji exclaimed with a grin as he hopped onto Duke's shoulder.

"We should get going though, we should head back to our group," Duke said as he looked at the sun. "But thank you for today. You helped us out more than you would know."

"I have a feeling what happened," Kage said with an amused grin. "But we should head back as well. I know for sure now that Lily is ready for the test and will become a full-fledged ninja." 

"Good luck on the test, Lily," Duke told the Frogadier. "You have an amazing talent from what we have seen today."

"T-Thank you," Lily replied with a smile, a slight blush on her face.

"It was nice meeting you two today," Duke said. "I hope we meet again in the future."

"If we do, we need to have a fight," Kage replied with a grin. "I want to see how our skills compare to yours."

"You're going down!" Genji exclaimed before Duke could say something. The two humans shook hands before they parted ways. Thankfully Duke kept track of where they went and eventually found their campsite… And a still asleep Charles.

With a grin, Genji charged up a smaller Water Pulse and threw it at the powerless, soaking him instantly.

**-000-**

**This project is part of an extended universe with Plegian Gengar's "The Rose That Was Always Red," maycontestdrew's "The Iron Knight," and Fuzzboy's "The Courtship of the Heavenly Plates." I recommend checking out the rest of these guys out, they are amazing writers!**


	14. Chapter 14

**-000-**

"Thomas, I'm heading to bed soon!" Max called out as he finished washing the dishes from that night's dinner. "Mom is probably going to stay at work late again and your Pokemon have been taken care of."

Max walked upstairs and heard no response. He opened the door to Thomas' room and saw that he and Kevin were playing their video game console. The two have been obsessed with video games ever since Thomas lost the Hoenn league championship. It's rare to find Thomas not playing video games and every time Max sees his brother playing, he's disappointed.

"Thomas…" Max drawled, his voice full of annoyance.

"Oh, sorry, good night Max," Thomas replied without looking away from the screen.

"Thomas…" Max repeated as he narrowed his eyes. Thomas let out a sigh and put down his controller.

"I'll be back Kevin," Thomas told the Sceptile, who shrugged in response. He walked out of his room and downstairs while Max followed him, making sure to keep out of earshot.

"What's wrong, Thomas?" Max asked as his brother grabbed a can of soda from the fridge. "You know that we have to sync up our sleep schedules so we can both know what's going on."

"Yeah… About that," Thomas started as he cracked the can open. "I don't think I'm going to continue it."

"What?" Max shouted before covering his mouth slightly. "Sorry. But why? We're both being targeted by Nuzlocke, we need to be ready for whenever he strikes!"

"Max, I'm useless," Thomas bluntly stated, shocking Max slightly. "You have powers somehow that you can use right now, you're not useless. Me? I'm just a body that'll get in the way. Last time something happened, I was the reason why you got hurt. I'm a burden, it's better that I don't join in."

"But, but," Max started, unable to come up with a response. Thomas is usually cheery, even when he lost the league the way he did, he only smiled. Uselessness is something Thomas never talks about. Thomas gave Max a small smile and walked past him to go upstairs.

"You've got this Max, you don't need me," Thomas said before he walked up the stairs. Max watched him go before letting out a sigh.

"Fine."

**-000-**

The next day, Duke and his party reached Camphrier Town. Duke told Max about how the town was created as a rest stop between Lumiose City and Ambrette Town as it was a long journey. Glittering Cave was very important for the development of the rapidly growing town so many adventurers looking for money took the journey. The trek was dangerous so those looking for money opportunities created the new town for the adventurers. All of the buildings are shops or an inn, except for one. A treasure hunter built a home across the thin river and he became very successful. After he died, his children put his treasures on display, creating the first museum in the Kalos region. His children became very successful and they decided to move to an area nearby. Eventually, the treasure hunter's children and grandchildren build Parfum Palace.

"_Duke… This all happens after your time. How do you know this?_" Max asked as the party looked for the inn.

"_I cannot answer that,_" Duke replied. "_Something happened to me that I cannot remember._"

"_I guess we'll figure out at the end,_" Max muttered before his voice faded away.

Finally, the group reached the inn and purchased two rooms for the night. Charles tried to offer to sleep in the same room as Mary but was immediately shot down by Aron, who slapped the human to the floor with a Vine Whip.

"There are some shops in this town, I suggest we stock up on supplies," Duke told the other two humans as they reached the two rooms. 

"I bet there are some awesome weapons here!" Charles exclaimed with stars in his eyes. "I heard that Templars repair and change gear here when they travel from Lumiose City to Ambrette Town. They must have something cool!"

"I have to take care of May now that I have a room," Mary told the two guys. "She's been stuck at my parents' house for a few days now, I haven't seen her much."

"Mary, you should go!" Audry exclaimed as she jumped off of Mary's head. "You haven't shopped for yourself in so long. Go grab stuff, enjoy yourself!"

"Are you sure, Audry?" Mary asked as she crossed her arms. "You don't have much experience with younger Pokemon and May is still a baby…"

"We can help her!" Genji exclaimed as he wrapped an arm around Aron's shoulders.

"...What do you mean we?" Aron asked as he narrowed his eyes at the water-type.

"Alright, alright," Mary said after a moment. "Audry, you're in charge. Just make sure she isn't hurt. We won't take long." 

"I'm sorry but I have to stay with Charles," Aron said as he grabbed Genji's arm and roughly threw it off of his shoulders. "You two have fun."

"I think you deserve a bit of a break, Aron," Charles said with a small smile. "I have Cullen that I can bring with me. No worries."

"You son of a bi-" Aron was caught off as Mary and Charles called forth their Pokemon. After the Azurill and Corphish appeared, Duke decided to call Hugh, the Riolu showing up not too long after.

"Good afternoon, sir," Hugh greeted Duke as he appeared in front of the electric user.

"Okay May, we'll be right back," Mary told the baby Pokemon as she held her in her arms, a small smile on the human's face. "Audry will keep an eye on you while we go shopping for a bit. Will you be a good girl for her?"

"I will Mama," the adorable fairy-type replied with a small voice. Mary lowered the Azurill to the floor and she jumped out of the human's arms before running up to Audry with a smile. May stumbled slightly halfway through the run before catching herself, making Audry coo to herself.

"We'll be back," Duke told the group of Pokemon. "You know which ones are our rooms." With that, he and Hugh turned to leave. Mary lingered for a second, hesitating, before following Duke.

"We loot for gold, aye?" Cullen asked as he and Charles followed behind Mary, leaving the group of Pokemon behind.

"You know, Genji," Aron started as he turned towards the water-type with narrowed eyes, "I really hate you."

"As expected of my rival!" Genji exclaimed with a grin.

**-000-**

A little while later, Audry and May were on the bed, playing with each other as an older sibling would play with an infant. Genji was on the floor, near the wardrobe the inn provided, practicing something that only Genji would recognize. To everyone else, it would look like he was crazy. Aron was sitting next to the door, eyes closed and arms folded. 

After a while, Genji's movements slowed before stopping entirely. He gazed around the room before his eyes settled on Aron. With a smirk, Genji jumped forward, landing in front of a startled Aron, and spat a Bubble at the Chespin. Aron didn't react fast enough and was soon soaked from the water that exploded from the Bubble attack.

"Genji…" Aron started as he slowly stood up. "You idiot! Why did you do that?"

"Because you're my rival and we haven't had our first official fight yet!" Genji exclaimed. "I was bored and you were doing nothing so I figured why not now?"

"I am going to kill you!" Aron screamed out as he let out two vines. They flew forward, trying to wrap around Genji, but the Froakie dodged out of the way. Aron paused to growl at the water-type but didn't stop the vines. The vines continued forward and slammed against the wardrobe next to the bed, knocking it sideways and onto the bed. The bed rocked and the two Pokemon were knocked to the floor.

Audry landed heavily in front of the Chespin and jumped up with a growl, "Be careful! You could have hurt someone."

"Don't yell at me, this is all his fault!" Aron exclaimed as he pointed at Genji, who waved in response.

"He's not the one who knocked over the wardrobe!" Audry exclaimed before she looked around to locate May.

However, while the three were arguing, the Azurill disappeared. She used her tail to cushion her fall and started to bounce on her tail. She continued to bounce forward and hit the door open, before bouncing out of the room.

"You two are impossible," Audry said with a huff after finishing her rant about safety. She looked around the room for May and paled after realizing the baby Pokemon was no longer in the room.

"May!"

**-000-**

May giggled to herself as she bounced out of the inn, ready to explore the world. She hatched not too long ago and for reasons unknown to her, Mary kept her back at the human's house. Mary's mother, an elderly woman, took care of the baby Pokemon and showered her with lots of love and affection. However, the fairy-type was not allowed outside, especially not by herself. This is the first time May could actually explore!

May stopped bouncing on her tail and looked around the area. She saw various buildings but there were no humans or Pokemon outside in the surrounding area. She looked off towards the trees and noticed a three Volbeat dancing for an Illumise and a Roselia. With another giggle, the Azurill waddled towards the dancing Pokemon and sat down next to the Roselia.

The Volbeat, seeing another Pokemon join the audience, picked up the pace and started to dance faster. Their tail lights blinked in sync with their moves, attracting the attention of more nearby Pokemon. Soon, May was surrounded by more Pokemon and was eventually pushed to the front of the crowd with the other baby Pokemon, like Budew.

Meanwhile, the three modern starter Pokemon ran out of the inn in search of the Azurill.

"Where could she have gone?" Audry exclaimed as she frantically looked around the area.

"There's a lot of Pokemon over there, we can check it out," Aron suggested as he pointed at the group of Pokemon watching the Volbeat. Audry nodded and started running towards the group, Genji right behind her. Aron sighed to himself and slowly followed them.

Before the modern starter Pokemon reached the Volbeat, however, the dancing Pokemon launched into their finale. The Volbeat's tails started blinking at a faster pace while their dance became more erratic and increased in pace. The oncoming Pokemon, not used to the light show, became blinded momentarily as the bug-types finished their show. 

With a fantastic finish that left Genji, Audry, and Aron blind, the Volbeat bowed and the audience gave them a huge round of applause. All at once, the audience started to move in different directions and the Azurill hiding in the middle of a pack of Budew was carried away. 

Audry rubbed her eyes and noticed that the large group of Pokemon had scattered. She cursed to herself and ran to where the group once was but she was unable to find May.

**-000-**

May giggled to herself as she bounced past a blind Audry, her new Budew friends chasing after her, giggling as well. The Roselia from earlier watched them from a distance, a small smile on her face as she watched her class play with May.

May used her Bubble attack and blew bubbles everywhere that the Budew chased around. One of the Budew fired a Stun Spore into one of the bubbles, making it sparkle with paralysis. The other Budew soon followed suit, firing Stun Spore into the bubbles near them. The area around a few of the buildings was filled with sparkling bubbles, it was a stunning sight.

After returning from the treeline, Audry, Aron, and Genji noticed the strange bubbles near the buildings. Audry and Genji ran forward and saw the Azurill playing with the group of Budew.

"May!" Audry exclaimed as she ran forward. However, the Fennekin ran into a few of the bubbles and stopped moving, paralysis taking over her body. She fell to the ground, unable to support herself, and struggled to stand back up.

The door to one of the buildings opened and Hugh the Riolu stepped out. He looked over the situation for a few seconds before walking over to the Azurill and picking her up. Audry, upon seeing this, let out a sigh of relief as Genji and Aron walked over. Seconds later, the rest of the group walked out of the building.

"Mama!" May cried out upon seeing Mary. Hugh set the baby Pokemon to the ground and she bounced over towards the human, who gave her a large smile.

"May!" Mary exclaimed as she scooped the Azruill into her arms. "Did you have fun while we were gone? Oh, you must've missed me so much if you're out here! I have something new to…" as she spoke, Mary walked away from the group until they couldn't hear her anymore.

"Are you alright Audry?" Duke asked as he approached the fire-type, grabbing a red berry from his bag. He dropped down to one knee and fed her the berry, instantly curing her of her paralysis.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks," Audry replied after she stood up. Duke nodded and walked away, Hugh and Cullen right behind him.

"Charles, you're an idiot," Aron said with a sigh upon seeing what the human purchased.

"What? I was told that they were magic and would allow me to see all of my opponents' weak spots!" Charles exclaimed as he pointed to the glasses he was now wearing. Where the lens would be were two eyeballs attached to springs that, when pushed into the frame, would spring out.

"Can you see my weak spots right now?" Aron asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Well, no-"

"Then they don't work and you're stupid."

"You and Duke are just jealous," Charles said with a scoff as he and Aron walked away. Audry sighed upon everyone leaving, looking primarily towards the back of Mary.

"You shouldn't take that, you know," Genji told her as he stood next to her. "It's clear that she doesn't value you as much as she does May. She didn't do anything despite seeing you struggle to stand."

"Shut up…" Audry said softly as she turned her gaze towards the water-type. "You don't know anything about us or our situation. So just… Shut up." With that, the Fennekin walked away, leaving the Froakie to stare at her.

**-000-**

Vince hummed to himself as he rode upon the back of Remus, the large Ariados covering a lot of ground quickly through Santalune Forest. He heard of a corruption close to Route 1 that was slowly spreading towards his area, and as a Territory Lord, it was up to him to figure out what was going on.

He couldn't let a beautiful place like this wither away, after all.

**-000-**

**This project is part of an extended universe with Plegian Gengar's "The Rose That Was Always Red," maycontestdrew's "The Iron Knight," and Fuzzboy's "The Courtship of the Heavenly Plates." I recommend checking out the rest of these guys out, they are amazing writers!**


	15. Chapter 15

**-000-**

The next day, the party of humans and Pokemon were once again on the road towards Ambrette Town. Unlike other days, most of the Pokemon were with the humans. Teresa was the only one not traveling with the group as she was watching over Duke's home and family. The journey was peaceful until…

"Charles, you are such an idiot!" Aron shouted. While walking, Charles decided to grab a few berries for the Pokemon, and Aron had followed him. Upon grabbing the berries, however, the human stepped on a Venipede, who then showered them with Poison Sting. Aron was instantly poisoned. 

"I'm sorry Aron, I didn't see the Venipede there," Charles replied with a sheepish smile, grabbing a Pecha Berry out of his bag to give to the Chespin.

"No, I've had it!" Aron yelled out as he slapped the berry out of Charles' hand. "You are the dumbest person I have ever met, why the hell did I even get stuck with you. Every moment I spend with you is agonizing, I can feel myself getting dumber and dumber. If my father hadn't ordered me to protect you, I swear…"

"Everything alright here?" Duke asked as he cut between the two.

"Yeah, everything's fine," Charles replied but his expression betrayed him. He was hurt. He knew that it wasn't Aron's choice to travel with him but he thought that they had become at least a little friendly with each other.

"No, nothing is ever fine with you around, Charles," Aron told the human. "You screw everything up somehow. How did your father, an intelligent and powerful human, ever make you? You're a powerless with a hopeless dream!"

"Don't bring my father into this," Charles replied. "I know I'm not the strongest or the smartest. But do not bring my father into this."

"Aron, what this be about?" Cullen asked as he scuttled towards the two. "You yellin' came out of nowhere. It be just a simple Poison Stin', we all get hurt in battle. It be nothing new, lad." 

"Where did this come from?" Aron repeated with a scoff. "I have spent two months with this fool. Two months! The Venipede was just another straw. I can't take this anymore."

"Let's settle this with a fight then," Charles told Aron. "I will prove to you that I am not as stupid and weak as you think I am. But if you win this fight, you can go right back home and I'll tell our fathers that I wanted you to leave."

"Oh?" Aron asked as a small smirk appeared. "You finally say something smart for once. I am going to enjoy beating the shit out of you…"

"Guys, we really don't have time for this-"

"Duke, you should let them fight it out," Mary told him. "This looks like it can only be solved through violence and a heart to heart fight, or something. Obviously, the Chespin won't shut up about it until they resolve their little issues." 

"I… suppose you're right," Duke replied with a sigh. "We'll rest here then while you guys do what you have to do."

"Perfect," Aron said with a smirk as a vine snatched the fallen Pecha Berry. After taking a bite, Aron took a breath before letting out a shout, tackling Charles into the nearby treeline.

"A perfect time for lunch it seems," Mary said as she walked over to the berry bush that caused the fight in the first place. "Oh look May! It's your favorite! Sitrus berries."

"Genji, Hugh, Cullen, can you go after Charles and Aron and keep an eye on them?" Duke asked. The three Pokemon nodded and vanished into the treeline after the two fighting partners. Duke then turned towards Mary with his arms crossed before saying, "You and I need to talk. Now."

"Oh?" Mary asked, keeping a neutral expression. Inside, however, she was starting to feel a bit nervous.

**-000-**

Charles quickly knocked away a pair of vines before lifting his shield to block a few Pin Missiles. Aron threw a smirk towards Charles before rolling up into a ball and launching forward. With a shout, Charles smashed his shield into the Chespin, sending the grass-type flying.

Aron unrolled from the ball he was in and threw a few seeds towards Charles just for the seeds to get slashed in half by Charles' sword. One Leech Seed, however, barely escaped the swings and latched onto Charles' leg, draining the human's energy.

Charles' leg buckled from the draining effect of the seeds before ripping the vines off of his leg. Blood oozed out of the wound that was left behind but Charles couldn't worry about that as Aron knocked him back with a Rollout. Charles' sword fell out of the human's hand and Aron grabbed it with a Vine Whip.

"Hey, give that back!" Charles shouted as he quickly stood back up. Aron let out a quick laugh before throwing the sword off to the side and rolling into a ball. Charles dodged out of the way of the Rollout and ran towards where his sword was, easily finding it among the tall grass.

_Where am I…?_

Charles knocked Aron's ball form back again with his shield before charging forward, scoring two hits on Aron with his sword. The Chespin fell back, bleeding from his new wounds, before tripping Charles with his vines. While the human was falling backward, Aron showered him with multiple seeds. The Leech Seeds immediately latched onto Charles and grew vines, draining his energy. The effects were immediate as Aron's wounds started to close as he absorbed Charles' energy. 

With a shout, Charles quickly ripped off all of the seeds, blood already pouring out of the wounds the seeds left behind. Charles ran forward once again, knocking aside a few Pin Missiles, before smashing his shield against the Chespin's face.

_What is this feeling…?_

Aron fell backward and rolled to the side as Charles brought his sword down. Aron used his vines again to grab Charles' sword and throw it to the side. The grass-type jumped to his feet and fired a few Pin Missiles. Charles blocked most of them but not all, leaving him covered in blood. 

Charles ran towards where his sword fell, taking more Pin Missiles to the back. Breathing heavily, Charles turned towards Aron, sword and shield at the ready. Aron's smirk grew upon seeing the state the human was in before using Vine Whip.

_I feel… Alive!_

Charles ran forward, slashing through the vines that came towards him, and slashing at the Pokemon he was fighting. With a flash of purple energy, the Chespin was blown backward from Charles' attack, flying right into a tree from the impact. 

Dumbfounded from what happened, Charles looked at his sword, covered in blood, before looking towards where the Chespin flew. It was clear that the grass-type was not getting back up so Charles ran over to him, concerned. Grabbing a few Sitrus Berries, he popped them into Aron's mouth, making the Chespin chew them. The effects were immediate and Aron's wounds started to close. After a few seconds, Aron's eyes opened and he let out a groan.

"Aron! Are you okay?" Charles asked as the Chespin slowly got up.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Aron replied as he waved off Charles' concern. "What even was that? You can't use powers so that wasn't you."

"I'm sorry, that was my fault," a new voice said, making the two partners jump.

"Who said that?" Charles asked as he looked around the two, spotting no one.

"Down here," the voice replied. Charles looked down and noticed that his sword had… Changed. The blood that was originally on the sword was no longer there and the blade was a lot lighter than before, the dark gray replaced with a lighter shade of gray. The hilt was now yellow and there was an eye in the middle of the hilt. The pommel was no longer there and at the end of the grip, there was a blue cloth that was holding a scabbard.

"What the hell? How did that happen?" Aron asked as Charles dropped his used-to-be sword. The sword levitated off of the ground and its single eye blinked at them.

"I have no freaking idea, man," the sword replied despite it not having a mouth. "The last I remember was me dying and then I was here. Though I used to have a lot more than just a cloth hand, this is freaky…"

"Hold on, I think I heard about this before," Charles said he sat down next to Aron. "You are what my father calls a Honeedge, a steel and ghost-type Pokemon."

"That's strange, I don't remember being a Pokemon," The Honedge replied. "I definitely remember being human. Hmm… I remember my daughter and I looking for a special sword and we were brought to this location. But we were ambushed by loads of people, my daughter was able to get away but only because I sacrificed myself for her. Was that all a dream?"

"I don't think it was," Charles told the steel-type as he shook his head. "Some Honedge are born like normal Pokemon while others are created. When a human soul dies in battle, it has the chance of finding a sword and combining with it to create a Honedge. At least that's what my father told me."

"Makes sense to me, I was definitely slain in battle," the Pokemon said as it looked around. "Hey, buddy, do you think you can help me find my wife and daughter? I want to make sure they're okay if they're even alive right now. You can use me as your sword and in exchange, I'll add in some cool moves to make your attacks feel more powerful and stuff. It'll be pretty cool." 

"I think that can work," Charles replied with a smile. "Welcome to the team then… Uhh, what's your name?"

"Name's Durandal, legendary swordsman of the west!" Durandal exclaimed proudly. "I had slain many foes and found many ancient swords!"

"Nice to meet you Durandal, I'm Charles and this is Aron," Charles said as he held out his hand. "Since we will be traveling together, I do have to bond with you."

"Bonding? Never heard of it but it sounds cool, go ahead." Charles focused for a few seconds, forming a connection with the former human, and soon, the process was complete. 

"By the way, Aron, I'm sorry for-"

"Don't worry about it," Aron said as he started to walk in the direction of where they came from. "You proved that you can hold your own… For the most part. I suppose I can deal with your stupidity a little longer."

"Yay! We're friends!" Charles exclaimed as he grabbed the Chespin and gave him a big hug.

"Let me go!"

**-000-**

Later that night, while everyone was sleeping, Hugh awoke with a start. He stared at his paws, the nightmare still playing in his head. He didn't know much about aura yet but Duke has been helping him a lot. But he has learned a lot, he is now able to detect emotions, but only strong ones right now.

But a corrupted Lucario? That's impossible, right?

Hugh shook his head, it was just a dream after all. With that, he went back to sleep to the sounds of the fire. Overhead, however, a purple aura pulsed once before retearing back towards Duke's home.

**-000-**

**This project is part of an extended universe with Plegian Gengar's "The Rose That Was Always Red," maycontestdrew's "The Iron Knight," and Fuzzboy's "The Courtship of the Heavenly Plates." I recommend checking out the rest of these guys, they are amazing writers!  
**


	16. Chapter 16

**-000-**

Vince whistled softly to himself as he continued to ride on the back of Remus. The human loved walking through the forests near him, there were many different colors and many different Pokemon. Bug-types were always the most fascinating to him but that was probably because he was a bug-type user himself. Everything in nature was just perfect for Vince. 

He vowed to protect the beauty and perfection of the nature around him, so he became a Territory Lord to become strong enough to protect everything around him. So hearing about a corruption destroying the very nature he wishes to protect is cause enough to make VInce jump into action.

It had been a few days since he left his small town. If there were any challengers, well, they would have to move on and challenge other Territory Lords. Vince knew he was walking in the right direction though as there were less Pokemon nearby compared to before. That usually meant there was a large predator or some other type of danger. These forests didn't usually have either so no matter what, Vince had something to take care of.

After a few more hours of travel, Vince found the nearby flora were either completely dead or turned a strange shade of purple. The further he traveled through the forest, the more purple flora he found. Eventually, there were no more dead plants, only purple plants and flowers.

Remus stopped as the two heard nearby buzzing that slowly grew louder from all directions. Vince knew the sound very well, it was a swarm of Combee rapidly approaching them but the buzzing seemed… off.

After a few moments, the swarm of Combee burst through the trees and they seemed angry. However, what caught Vince's attention was the purple spots on the Combee and the red, glowing eyes. The human reacted immediately by elegantly jumping off of Remus' back.

Vince threw his hands forward and fired webbing from his palms, covering the Combee that were trying to rush him. Part of the swarm, now caught in the webbing, were trapped and fell to the ground, unable to fly anymore. Vince used his webs to dodge out of the way of another swarm and Remus backed him up by firing a String Shot.

After a few moments of dodging and trapping the Combee, there were no other bees left trying to attack them. The trapped Combee were trying their best to escape their prisons but were unsuccessful.

"I wonder what happened to these poor creatures," Vince softly said to himself as he crouched down and observed the bug-types. "I've never seen anything like this before… I wonder if there's an antidote."

Remus let out a growl as Vince once again heard more buzzing. This time, however, it came from a singular direction and it sounded a lot more powerful. A Vespiquen. Seconds later, Vince dodged out of the way from two Air Slashes. While the human was able to dodge the attack, the webbing that trapped a number of the Combee broke apart. A Vespiquen, more purple than yellow, flew into view.

"Remus, I'll leave her to you. I need to trap the little guys again," Vince told his partner, who growled in reply.

Before Remus could move, the Vespiquen raised her arm and spoke in a garbled voice, "lEaVe ThIs PlAcE oR yOu WiLl Be CoNsUmEd!" After saying this, the Vespiquen swept her arm in an arc and fired another Air Slash. Remus jumped to the side and fired a Toxic Thread at the flying-type Pokemon. The Vespiquen fired a barrage of Power Gem stones that cut the thread into pieces and smashed into Remus. 

Remus shook his head with a growl and used Psychic to lift the stones and fired them back at the queen bee. He then fired up with a Poison Sting attack which the Vespiquen could not dodge. She was able to knock away the stones but the thin needles pierced her skin and poisoned her. 

The Vespiquen let out a roar and fired another Power Gem at the spider. Remus used a String Shot to pull himself out of the way of the attack before shooting a Venoshock at the Vespiquen. Since the flying-type was already poisoned, the attack did more damage and the Vespiquen let out a roar of pain.

The queen bee Pokemon looked around and noticed that Vince had gathered up the rest of her swarm like before. With nothing else to lose, the Vespiquen surrendered herself to her anger. The purple patches on her started to grow until all of the yellow on her body was replaced with the same purple. She swept her arms in a wide arc towards the Combee who, in turn, started to glow. With cries of agony, the Combee were compressed to a smaller form and flew towards the Vespiquen's side. The cries grew softer until there was no noise coming from the Combee, the purple completely taking over their bodies. 

The Vespiquen used Attack Order and the small Combee flew towards Remus, pelting him with their small bodies, before returning to Vespiquen's side once again. Remus reacted by firing another Venoshock, which the Vespiquen countered with a Defense Order.

"I've never seen anything like this," Vince said softly as he stood by Remus' side. "Those poor Combee… This is not how that move is supposed to work."

The Vespiquen swept her arms again towards Remus and Vince, attempting to use another Attack Order. Remus, however, countered the attack with a Psychic, catching all of the Combee in his psychic grasp. The Vespiquen responded by firing a Power Gem towards Vince, who easily dodged the attack by jumping to the side. Remus swung the miniature Combee around and pelted the queen bee with them.

The flying-type let out a roar of anger and pain before finally being silenced by Remus. He had fired a Venoshock and hit the Vespiquen square in the chest. She landed on the ground with a groan of pain, her body slowly dissipating into a purple mist, the same purple color that covered her body. The Combee followed suit and the human and spider watched as their foes slowly disappeared.

"This is rather troubling indeed," Vince said as the rest of the Vespiquen vanished.

**-000-**

Finally, Duke and the rest of the group had reached the Connecting Caves. Due to frequent travel between Lumiose City and Glittering Cave, Connecting Cave was carved out by humans and Pokemon to create a faster and safer path. Of course, there had been some caves that were uncovered but for the most part, it's a straight shot through.

"It should only take an hour to get through," Duke told the group as they reached the entrance. "There are torches in there so we shouldn't worry about needing any light."

"Awesome! Let's go!" Charles exclaimed as he ran inside. Duke and Aron both sighed as they watched Charles run in, the new Honedge at his side.

"Don't stray from the main path!" Duke called after Charles before he started to walk inside the cave. Hugh and Genji followed right after their partner with Aron right behind them. Mary and Audry brought up the rear, the Fennekin in her partner's arms. The beginning of the cave was uneventful. The group caught up to Charles and Durandal rather quickly, and for the first half of the cave adventure, the Honedge asked the group some questions.

"So I've only been dead for ten years?" The ghost-type repeated after Duke answered his recent question. "To be honest, I am very disappointed. I was kinda hoping that I was like a super ancient soul that can bring tales of honor to weary travelers. Tales of defeating mighty foes that the newer generation can't even begin to believe! But I suppose this will have to do."

"So that means there's a chance your daughter and wife are alive!" Charles excitedly pointed out. "I'm going to make sure you find them, buddy!"

"Thanks man, I appreciate it!" Durandal replied with glee.

Eventually, the group went quiet. They passed by a few Pokemon, like a group of Zubat, but nothing really happened. However, about halfway through the cave, Hugh felt a strange feeling in his head. He stopped walking and turned towards one of the few openings in the cave's walls. As if in a trance, he started making his way towards the opening.

"Hugh, where are you going?" Duke asked as he watched the Riolu walk away. Confused, the human followed Hugh until they saw an injured Lucario sitting out of view of the opening in the wall.

"Wait!" The Lucario called out in a raspy voice. "Don't come near! It's a trap!"

"What do-" Duke was cut off by a loud sound and the opening behind Duke collapsed, blocking their path to the tunnel.

"Duke! Are you alright?" Charles called out as he and Mary stared at the collapsed wall.

"I'm fine, you two can go ahead!" Duke yelled back. "Hugh and I will meet you at the exit!"

"Alright… Don't take too long!"

Duke let out a sigh as he held his hand up, conjuring a small electric ball to provide them light. He didn't want to break through the collapsed wall in fear of causing more collapses in the tunnel.

"Well, I guess we have to find another way out," Duke told Hugh and the injured Lucario. "Lucario, what's your name? And why are you here?"

"Name's Luke," The Lucario replied with a groan as he sat up. "I'm the brother of the Lucario's Territory Lord and I was on a mission to speak with the other Territory Lords. While walking through this cave, I was surrounded by a lot of Rhydon. They left me here, injured, as bait." 

"That sounds rather troublesome," Duke replied. "So you're with the Lucario Kingdom in Shalour City? Well, we'll get you out of here."

"Excuse me, sir," Hugh interrupted Duke, "do you think we can take care of the Rhydon? I don't like the idea of them injuring random people and Pokemon walking through the tunnel."

"If we find them, we'll take care of them," Duke told Hugh with a small smile. "But our first objective is to get Luke here out of the cave."

"Understood!"

"I'll help you up, Luke," Duke told the Lucario as he leaned down. "Easy now." The Lucario wrapped an arm around Duke and the human lifted the Lucario up. The Lucario let out a gasp in pain but he was eventually able to stand up, letting Duke support a good portion of his weight. Slowly, the trio continued forward through the cavern, hoping to find a way out.

**-000-**

An Axew let out a sigh, exhausted from her most recent emotional breakdown. This place was absolute hell for her, she hated living in this cave. She's tried to leave, multiple times, but the Rhydon made it so nobody can leave the cave anymore. Her parents were abusive, everyone hated her and she just… Couldn't take it anymore.

She weakly stood up from the corner she was in and wearily made her way through the dark cavern. She needed to find a way out of here and fast. Or else she wasn't going to survive for long. 

Suddenly, she saw a strange light from around a bend in the cave and strange voices. Panic took hold of the small Axew and she froze as the light and voices grew closer.

"-at least half an hour," the Axew heard. "The exit has to be this way, I just hope we are not lost."

Exit? So these strangers were lost in the cave and needed to get out? This might be her only chance! But what if they weren't strong enough to beat the Rhydon? What if they were bad? But maybe they were good and can defeat the cave's oppressors. What if-?

She noticed the light was fading and the voices were going quieter. They were going the wrong way. This was her only chance.

"W-Wait!" She shouted as she forced her body to move. Her mind yelled at her, panic trying to make her freeze once again. But she pushed through the fear, pushed through the panic and exhaustion. She ran towards the light and found a human with a Lucario and a Riolu. The trio stopped and the Riolu turned around.

"Oh, hello there," the Riolu said as the Axew slowly approached. "Is there something you need?" The Riolu looked so nice as he gave her a small smile. She hasn't seen a smile directed at her in so long that she couldn't help but tear up. But what if-?

_No!_

"Y-You guys are going the wrong way," she timidly explained. "I-I can s-show you the exit. If you want, of course, I mean you don't know me and like I-I can be a bad Pokemon and-" 

"Calm down," The human told her softly as he helped the Lucario move towards her. "If you know the way out, we'd love the help. My name is Duke, the Lucario is Luke and the Riolu is Hugh. Nice to meet you."

"M-My name is P-P-Phran," The Axew stuttered out as she avoided Duke's gaze. "F-Follow me, the exit is this way." With that, the Axew started to walk back the way she came. Thankfully they weren't that far away from the exit. Phran tried to leave earlier today and didn't get far before her emotional breakdown.

Despite her exhaustion, despite the thoughts running through her head, Phran led the trio through the cavern. She has to put her trust in them, this is her only way out. This is her way to freedom! 

**-000-**

After a while of silence, the group saw another light source apart from Duke's electricity. They found an exit that led out to the sunlight and Duke let out a relieved sigh.

"Great, we're almost there," he told the group. "We'll be out in no time."

Phran looked around and saw that the Rhydon were not there. This was her chance! She can-

Her thoughts were interrupted as she was hit in the side by a large rock. With a surprised yelp, Phran flew through the air and landed behind Duke and the Lucario.

"We told you already, no one leaves the cave!" A loud voice bellowed out as two Rhydon walked out from one of the dark corners. "This is your second time today! You know what that means… Death!" The two started laughing menacingly as they approached the group.

"Oh look, it's the Lucario we beat up as well. And he brought friends! More fun for us!" The other Rhydon said as he let out another chuckle.

"Hey! Don't you come closer!" Hugh shouted as he ran forward. "You have to get through me before you can touch them!"

"You think you can defeat us? A runt like you? Hah! Try-" before the Rhydon could finish, Hugh jumped up and smacked them with a Force Palm, knocking the speaking Rhydon back.

"Phran, stay behind me," Duke told the fallen Axew. "Hugh and I will make sure they won't touch you again." Phran looked at the human in awe. He didn't know her, they just met. Yet he's willing to risk his life to save her? "Sorry Hugh, but I'm out of this one. My electricity won't harm them!"

"No worries sir, I got this!" Hugh exclaimed as he fired a Vacuum Wave at the other Rhydon. He dodged to the side as a few rocks were fired in his direction before during a few more Vacuum Waves.

The fight wasn't very eventful. It seemed like the Rhydon only knew how to throw rocks at the Riolu, who was too fast to get hit by them. After a few moments of the battle, Hugh was able to knock the two Rhyhorn out. 

"Hugh, can you grab Phran, I don't think she can stand on her own," Duke told the Riolu as he made his way to the exit with Luke. The Riolu nodded and quickly grabbed the small Axew before the four were able to leave the cave.

Phran blinked her eyes at the bright light, she was accustomed to low light and sunlight in the distance. This was the first time she was outside and it felt… Amazing. The soft breeze tickled her skin and the sun's heat was welcome compared to the chilly cavern atmosphere. With a soft sigh, exhaustion took over and darkness enveloped her once again.

**-000-**

Phran woke up with a start and found herself surrounded by a group of humans and Pokemon. She looked around and saw that she was somewhat close to the fire the group had created. The humans and Pokemon were eating food she had never seen before. The Riolu noticed that she was awake and grabbed the attention of the human that she helped in the cave. Duke, she remembered.

"Are you two feeling better?" Duke asked as he walked over. Phran looked around and saw that the Lucario, Luke, was next to her. There were some bandages wrapped around parts of his body, probably covering wounds she didn't see before.

"I-I'm feeling alright," Phran replied timidly.

"Could be better," Luke replied as he sat up, a groan escaping his lips as he did so. "I should really get going soon though. I must alert one of the Territory Lords of the Rhydon within Connecting Cave."

"At least rest a little while longer," Duke told Luke as he crossed his arms. "It's no good to travel while wounded and exhausted."

"I suppose you are correct," Luke replied with a sigh. "Well, when you and Hugh find yourselves in Shalour City, be sure to look for me. I know you both can use some training in Aura."

"Hugh, I can understand but why me?" Duke asked as he raised an eyebrow questioningly. 

"I can tell that you have an affinity for Aura," Luke told the human as he shrugged one shoulder. "It might be why Hugh sought you out and became one of your partners. A subconscious aura connection."

"Interesting…" Duke muttered before turning his attention to the Axew. "What are your plans now that you got out of the cave?"

"I-I… Don't know," Phran admitted. "I spent my life dreaming of getting out of the cave but I never t-thought about what I wanted to do afterward…" 

"Well, do you want to come with me?" Duke asked as he kneeled in front of the Axew. "You can stay with me for as long as you want and if you decide what you want to do, you can always leave. It's up to you."

Phran thought for a moment before she responded, "I-I'd like to join you. I-I want to become brave like you!"

"You got it," Duke told her with a warm smile. He placed a hand on her head softly and concentrated, and after a moment, the two established a connection. "Welcome to the team, Phran. Glad to have you here."

Phran teared up at that. She's never been wanted before, not by her parents, not by any of the cave Pokemon. But this human… He does want her around. And that was the best feeling in the world.

**-000-**

**This project is part of an extended universe with Plegian Gengar's "The Rose That Was Always Red," maycontestdrew's "The Iron Knight," and Fuzzboy's "The Courtship of the Heavenly Plates." I recommend checking out the rest of these guys, they are amazing writers!**


End file.
